25th June 1983 can truly be called a watershed moment for Indian cricket as on this day Kapil Dev’s team managed to do the unthinkable and toppled two-time and defending World Champions West Indies led by Clive Lloyd in the final of the 1983 Prudential World Cup at the Lord’s ground.
Before their 1983 World Cup win, India had won a grand total of one match in the previous two editions of the tournament, which were also played in England. 24-year-old Kapil Dev was named captain for India in this tournament and no one, including the players themselves, didn't have many expectations.
Roger Binny recalls how Kapil and Gavaskar's words inspired India in 1983 World Cup final
Many of the players had booked extended vacations as the team was not expected to go past the league stage.
India started well by defeating West Indies in the league stage and was almost knocked out of the tournament by Zimbabwe. In a match at Tunbridge Wells, India was reduced to 17/5 by Zimbabwe when Kapil Dev played a captain’s knock of 175* to take the team to a good total, and then the bowlers did the rest.
India and West Indies qualified for the semis from their group B, while England and Pakistan qualified from Group A. India faced England in the semi-finals and Pakistan faced the West Indies.
Half-centuries from Yashpal Sharma and Sandeep Patil took India to a great victory over England in the semi-finals, where they met two-time and defending champions West Indies at the Lord’s.
Putting India into bat on a greenish wicket. India couldn’t do much and was bowled out for 183 with Kris Srikkanth making 38 and Mohinder Amarnath making 26. The West Indies were confident of chasing down such a small total in 60 overs.
Though Viv Richards briefly looked like he would take the game away from India, a brilliant running catch by Kapil Dev ended his innings for 33 and then Amarnath picked three wickets as India registered a huge upset by 43 runs.
Kapil Dev explains how 1983 World Cup triumph transformed the face of cricket in India
India’s 1983 World Cup win led to a surge in cricket lovers in India and moved the center of cricket from England to India, who in 1987 hosted the next edition of the World Cup, with Pakistan as co-hosts.
The Indian cricket fraternity took to Twitter to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the World Cup win and we have some of the best tweets for you.
Check them out:
