1983 World Cup Final Champion
Two months back, the land of 125 billion people called India celebrated the 35th winning anniversary of 1983 World Cup historic win. Let’s rewind the past, take every fan back to the Lords balcony and relive the 1983 world cup final. The match, which turned a bat and ball sport into a religion, cricket was no more a fashionable sport in India.
The journalists ran out of ink praising the unbelievable victory for India.
Before the 1983, Indian teams only won 1 single match in the last two editions of World Cup. During a 1983 World Cup biopic launch event, Krishnamarchari Srikkanth explained how the entire team didn’t expect to win a single game in the tournament. He said ““We (an Indian team) had been to the World Cup twice (1975, 1979) and had beaten only East Africa, which was basically a band of Gujjus (Gujaratis) put together.”
Before 1983, India only won the match against the East and Central Africa by 10 wickets in 1975, whereas the arch-rivals Pakistan had won 3 out of 7 matches under the captaincy of Asif Iqbal. They even reached the semifinals in the 1979 World Cup.
If we look at the statistics before the World Cup final, India had defeated all the cricket superpowers atleast once in the tournament. They defeated West Indies in their opening match by 34 runs at Old Trafford, winning against Australia by a healthy margin of 118 runs, knocking them out of the tournament and defeating Zimbabwe twice in the tournament.
Defining moments of 1983 World Cup final
Both the captains were called for the toss. West Indies won the toss and elected to field first. Both the Indian openers came on to bat, but couldn’t provide the rocket start the team was looking for. Sunil Gavaskar was dismissed early by Andy Roberts at 2, denting the Indian hopes.
Both Srikkanth and Mohinder “Jimmy” Amarnath stood strong and started the consolidation work by hitting the loose ball to the boundaries and stealing singles on the good deliveries. Srikkanth was going great guns smashing the bowlers to every part of the ground, until judged LBW by Malcolm Marshall at ferocious 38 with the help of 7 fours and 1 six.
After Srikkanth departure, Mohinder Amarnath and Yashpal Sharma fell quickly at short interval. Both the players scored 26 and 10 runs respectively. The responsibility came on the robust shoulders of Kapil Dev and flamboyant Sandeep Patil.
Both the players realized the potential of the West Indies pace battery and decided to attack. Sometimes, attack is the best form of defense. Both the players started playing attacking shots unsettling West Indian attack. The next 42 runs were scored in just 58 balls.
But once both these players fell, the tail was exposed. The fight was to play the complete 60 overs, the lower order chipped in with double figure scores, but eventually the team was wrapped on 183 in just 54.4 overs. A small total to defend against the word champion West Indies.
After a short interval West Indies came on to play the second innings. The players looked relaxed, cool, and composed before the play. The batting lineup was a quartet of superstars capable of tearing any bowling attack apart. The likes of Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Vivian Richards and Clive Lloyd can derail any opposition on their day.
West Indies were the best team, but luck was on India’s side. Both the openers were dismissed within the first 10 overs. The openers could only add 14 to the total bring the dasher Vivian Richards at the crease. He had the reputation of taking the attack back to the opposition.
He was looking dangerous hitting the bowlers out of the park and was in a mood to finish the game early. He scored 33 runs in no time and was unstoppable, until he hit the ball in the air. Kapil Dev ran back 20 yards to take a catch to dismiss Vivian Richards.
The catch tilted the pendulum on the Indian side. The team looked jubilant and went for the kill straight away. The next 3 wickets fell within next 24 runs. For the first time the invincible looked vincible. Despite the loss, the West Indies team bounced back. Jeff Dujon and Malcolm Marshall put up a solid fight. They looked shaky at the start, but once the butterfly nerves settled, both the players started playing the shots.
They took the team total to 125 runs with just 58 more runs to win the final, but soon Dujon was cleaned up by Mohinder Amarnath . Once the Wicketkeeper departed, it was a procession for the West Indies. Few balls after Malcolm Marshall also lost his wicket to Amarnath exposing the tail.
India cleaned up the tail by just conceding 15 more runs, stopping their run chase at 140 runs and it was all over. India won their first World Cup title defeating the two time World Cup winner West Indies. Mohinder Amarnath was awarded with the Man of the Match award in the final for his 3 wicket haul and gutsy 26 runs.
There was no match of the series award in 1983 World Cup. The match, which was considered a tussle between the lion and the cat, changed the face of the Indian cricket. When the Indian team won the World Cup, the BCCI was left with no money to reward the team. The board offered Rs 2 Lakh to the team as a reward, but Sunil Gavaskar and other senior players dismissed by responding “We are not asking for tip, Sir”.
The Celebrations at Home
The BCCI had to organize a fundraising concert in Mumbai featuring popular Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar. The concert was a hit and finally every Indian player was awarded with Rs 1 Lakh as a reward. Although, it was nothing compared to other countries, but opened the gates for the subcontinent to pull up major events like the World Cup in the future. 4 years later the World Cup base was first time shifted from England to Asia. Reliance industries funded the 1987 World Cup edition.
1983 World Cup Final Scorecard India vs West Indies
183
54.4 Overs
[/one_half]
140
52 Overs
[/one_half_last]India won by 43 run
| Date | 25 June 1983 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Lord’s, England |
| Umpires | Dickie Bird and Barrie Meyer |
| Attendance | 30,000 |
Indian Innings
| R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunil Gavaskar | c Dujon b Roberts | 2 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 16.66 |
| Krishnamachari Srikkanth | lbw b Marshall | 38 | 82 | 57 | 7 | 1 | 66.66 |
| Mohinder Amarnath | b Holding | 26 | 108 | 80 | 3 | 0 | 32.50 |
| Yashpal Sharma | c sub (Logie) b Gomes | 11 | 45 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 34.37 |
| Sandeep Patil | c Gomes b Garner | 27 | 48 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 93.10 |
| N Kapil Dev (c) | c Holding b Gomes | 15 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 187.50 |
| Kirti Azad | c Garner b Roberts | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Roger Binny | c Garner b Roberts | 2 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Madan Lal | b Marshall | 17 | 31 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 62.96 |
| Syed Kirmani (wk) | b Holding | 14 | 55 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 32.55 |
| Balwinder Sandhu | not out | 11 | 42 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 36.66 |
| Extras | (b 5, lb 5, w 9, nb 1) | 20 | |||||
| Total | (all out; 54.4 overs) | 183 | (3.34 runs per over) | ||||
Fall of wickets 1-2 (Sunil Gavaskar), 2–59 (Krishnamachari Srikkanth), 3–90 (Mohinder Amarnath), 4–92 (Yashpal Sharma), 5–110 (N Kapil Dev), 6–111 (Kirti Azad), 7–130 (Roger Binny), 8–153 (Sandeep Patil), 9–161 (Madan Lal), 10–183 (Syed Kirmani)
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Roberts | 10 | 3 | 32 | 3 | 3.20 |
| Joel Garner | 12 | 4 | 24 | 1 | 2.00 |
| Malcolm Marshall | 11 | 1 | 24 | 2 | 2.18 |
| Michael Holding | 9.4 | 2 | 26 | 2 | 2.68 |
| Larry Gomes | 11 | 1 | 49 | 2 | 4.45 |
| Viv Richards | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 |
West Indies Innings
| R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon Greenidge | b Sandhu | 1 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 8.33 |
| Desmond Haynes | c Binny b Madan Lal | 13 | 45 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 39.39 |
| Viv Richards | c Kapil Dev b Madan Lal | 33 | 42 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 117.85 |
| Clive Lloyd | c Kapil Dev b Binny | 8 | 32 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 47.05 |
| Larry Gomes | c Gavaskar b Madan Lal | 5 | 18 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 31.25 |
| Faoud Bacchus | c Kirmani b Sandhu | 8 | 37 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 32.00 |
| Jeff Dujon | b Amarnath | 25 | 94 | 73 | 0 | 1 | 34.24 |
| Malcolm Marshall | c Gavaskar b Amarnath | 18 | 73 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 35.29 |
| Andy Roberts | lbw b Kapil Dev | 4 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Joel Garner | not out | 5 | 34 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 26.31 |
| Michael Holding | lbw b Amarnath | 6 | 28 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Extras | (lb 4, w 10) | 14 | |||||
| Total | (all out; 52 overs) | 140 | (2.69 runs per over) | ||||
Fall of wickets 1-5 (Greenidge), 2-50 (Haynes), 3-57 (Richards), 4-66 (Gomes), 5-66 (Lloyd), 6-76 (Bacchus), 7-119 (Dujon), 8-124 (Marshall), 9-126 (Roberts), 10-140 (Holding)
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kapil Dev | 11 | 4 | 21 | 1 | 1.90 |
| Balwinder Sandhu | 9 | 1 | 32 | 2 | 3.55 |
| Madan Lal | 12 | 2 | 31 | 3 | 2.58 |
| Roger Binny | 10 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 2.30 |
| Mohinder Amarnath | 7 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 1.71 |
| Kirti Azad | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2.33 |
The Legends of 1983 World Cup
Self-belief is a sorcerer’s stone, which can turn mud into gold and unlock the hidden magic within you. It is beyond logic and experience. We call it a gut feeling giving us the Déjà vu of the events to come in near future. Sometimes, we as an individual team experience the power of pulling off something special. Who would have thought that the underdog Indian cricket team will defeat the World champions West Indies at the home ground of Cricket and create history inspiring the likes of Tendulkar’s and Dravid’s in future.
1983 World Cup is a fairy tale story highlighting the Indian team road to victory. The journey from being a minnow to being titled as World Champion, it was a dream run for the team. So gear up to expect the unexpected stories from 1983 World Cup diaries.
When Srikkanth cancelled his US trip
Krishnamachari Srikkanth along with few other teammates left for 1983 World Cup in England just as a passing destination. They planned to spend few days in England and later leave for the US for the combined holiday. It was a belated honeymoon holiday for Srikkanth, who got married two months back.
The tickets were already booked, but Kapil Dev convinced the opener to cancel the ticket and re-book after two months. Srikkanth remembers, it was the best decision ever taken by him during the entire life. He further lamented and criticized Kapil Dev for not returning the cost of ticket cancellation till date. The opener looked humorously pinched Kapil Dev asking his 10,000 back. After the statement the crowd burst into laughter.
When Mohinder Amarnath displayed his naughty side
During the same event, Mohinder Amarnath rewinds his old memories, savoring the fountain of youth. He revealed ““Prior to 1983, we used to go to England only to see some blondes with their long legs,. All he could afford was a silent smile to justify the statement. The player was judged Man of the Match in the 1983 world Cup final at Lords. He took 3 wickets and made patient 26 runs to conceal the victory.
He took the last wicket of the match by dismissing Micheal Holding for 6 and creating history by winning the World Cup, the once in a lifetime experience for every cricketer.
Kapil Dev Obsession for English
Once Sandeep Patil disclosed how Kapil Dev was obsessed with speaking in English. He said ““In team meetings he would say, ‘Sunil (Gavaskar), you have to bat. Srikkanth, you have to hit. Sandy (Balwinder Singh Sandhu), you have to become a tiger. Kiri (Kirmani), you have to keep…
“That was our team meeting. After he would leave, we used to ask around to decode what he meant.”
Balwinder Singh Sandhu further added fuel to the fire by saying” “He would say, ‘We will have a fielder there, there and there’. I would ask, ‘But where?’ I realized later that he (Kapil) had all this planned out only in his head.”
But Kapil Dev clobbered every sarcasm and joke out of the park by replying in his old fashioned way. He said ““Cricket was played by cultured people, 15 years ago,” countered Kapil, smiling. “They (his teammates) were cultured, I came from agriculture.”
When Sunil Gavaskar wife asked Sandeep Patil to pass message to his husband
When Vivian Richards was batting at the crease and was going great with all guns blazing. Sunil Gavaskar wife sitting in the stands called Sandeep Patil, who was fielding near the boundary ropes to inform her husband to meet her at the station in half an hour to go shopping.
Gavaskar wife was sure about the IIndian defeat. Vivian Richards was on song, slowly drifting the game away from the Indians. If he would have stayed at the crease for a while, it was curtains for India.
Dilip Vengsarkar | The Colonel of India.
Dilip Vengsarkar is one of the finest batsmen the country has ever produced. He was called the colonel of India. There is a famous legend passed from one generation to another about 1983 World Cup that Dileep Vengsarkar still can’t watch the recording of the 1983 World Cup final. He is still afraid that Kapil Dev will drop the catch of Vivian Richards.
When Indian team ran out of Champagne
During an event, Yashpal Sharma remembered how Indian team was running out of champagne and a few players from the Indian dressing room went to the West Indies dressing room and asked for extra champagne.
The West Indies players obliged and gave them a few bottles of champagne to enjoy the celebrations displaying their sportsmen spirit.
Sunil Valsan and the room
In the Indian squad, there was only one player, who didn’t play a single match in the World Cup. During an event he joked how he was the only player along with Captain, Vice-captain and manager, who enjoyed his personal room. When other players were sweating out hard, Sunil Valsan and Kirti Azad were partying hard late night and would return early morning.
Srikkanth- The best dancer of the team
During an event, when the entire 1983 World Cup was asked who was the best dancer of the team and should do item number in the team. Everyone pointed towards Krishnamachari Srikkanth. He had the reputation of being the most colorful, spicy and a naughty player of the team.
According to a legend, after every victory the opener danced in a melodramatic fashion as if he has just hit the jackpot. He loved enjoying the winning moments.
Sandeep Patil- The sluggish, poor fielder
Kapil Dev as a captain never trusted Sandeep Patil the fielder. During the final, he strictly instructed Balwinder Singh Sandhu to bowl in such a way that batsman couldn’t hit the ball towards Patil. Balwinder Singh Sandhu remembered what Kapil Dev said about Sandeep Patil. Kapil Dev said “If the ball goes to him, we will lose the match”.
