As the Indian cricket team lost the inaugural test championship at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton a few days ago, it is only fair for fans to look back into history to seek respite from times where it was on the victorious side. And, the firsts as they say, are obviously sweet.
38 years ago, on the same day, India witnessed history at the home of cricket, Lord’s, as the country’s cricket team led by Kapil Dev lifted its world cup. The triumph is worth remembering year after year, as Team India beat two-time winners and defending champions West Indies to lift the coveted trophy.
BCCI took to social media to share the iconic picture of Kapil Dev receiving the trophy at the Lord’s Cricket Stadium’s balcony.
What happened at the 1983 final?
India’s World Cup final playing XI included Sunil Gavaskar, K Srikkanth, Mohinder Amarnath, Yashpal Sharma, SM Patil, Kapil Dev (c), Kirti Azad, Roger Binny, Madan Lal, Syed Kirmani, and Balwinder Sandhu.
In the finals between India and West Indies, the latter won the toss and opted to bowl first.
The Kapil Dev-led side managed to score just 183 runs as Andy Roberts took three wickets while Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, and Larry Gomes picked up two wickets each.
For India, Kris Srikkanth top-scored as he played a knock of 38 runs, apart from him, no other batsmen managed to go past the 30-run mark.
Defending 183, India did a good job of keeping a check on the Windies run flow and Madan Lal then dismissed the key batsmen Vivian Richards (33), reducing Windies to 57/3.
Soon after, the team from the Caribbean was reduced to 76/6 and India was the favourites from there on to win the title.
Mohinder Amarnath took the final wicket of Michael Holding to give India its first-ever World Cup title win. He was named the man of the match as well.
In the finals, West Indies was bowled out for 140, and as a result, India won the match by 43 runs.
The maiden world cup is all the more memorable for the Indian cricket fans, as it took the team another 28 years to lift the second world cup trophy for the country. The feat, needless to say, was achieved by the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side in 201, by defeating Sri Lanka at Wankhede in Mumbai.
Do you think Virat Kohli’s Team India can get the country its third world cup in 2023?