I was watching the TV. Yes i bunked my college next day to celebrate this occasion with my friends. I was very sure that India will win,as the captain like Kapil is born to create the History. I am very proud of this captian and the player who intiated the confidence in the players in his team and also showed that India have the potential and they can win. He and his team did it I am was very proud that Indian won the cup.
I remember the following : Sitting in front of Black n White TV and watching Garner, Marshall and Holding bowling. They were only names until then but watching them live was thrilling. Gavaskar could not do much but Srikkanth's cover drive on one knee and hooked six off Marshall is still fresh. Holding clean bowling Mohinder and then the collapse. We thought that India had overachieved by reaching the finals and so weren't disappointed. When Windies began the reply we thought it would be over soon, but then Greenidge, Haynes and Richards got out. They still had Lloyd and Gomes. The transmission went off for some reason, but we could hear the crackers going off in the neighbourhood. We knew India was doing well. When transmission resumed it was I think Dujon and Marshall at the crease. How did it happen ?? Anyway we all watched with stunned silence till Holding was adjudged lbw. We just could not believe what we were seeing. We had grown up seeing pics of Clive Lloyd holding the Prudential Cup and here we were seeing our captain with the cup. It was a dream. The newspapapers had gone colour by then and there was the famous picture of a smiling Kapil Dev with the Cup. The final and the world cup dominated our discussions in Jr College for a whole week. To end, a small incident from College. The new hindi teacher introduced himself, but none of us could hear him. So he turned around and wrote his name on the black board 'KAPIL DEV SINGH'. A huge cheer went up.
The fisrt time india beat WI in a group match, it was like a huge upset yet they lost the return game handsomely. There are many twicts and turns.From 17/5 to Kapil's 175 to beat Zimbabwe and trounced by Aus on 13 June match when Trevor Chappel scored a century. The Semi final was all about Sandip patil's six 4s against Willis although Amarnath was MOM. The final, Srikant's 37 highest,some fighting partnership of Madanlal and Kirmani making india 183 in 60 overs i.e just over 3 RPO, can any one think now as in IPL5 final KKr chased 192 in 20 overs??? Sandhu's magical bowled out of Greenidge, Kapil's catch of Richards off madan, Amarnaths winding up of the innings....There can not be any better fairy tale than this one..
1. Kim Hughes, then captain of Australian team, had said before the tournament that India could be the dark horse.
2. Kapil's 175 against Zimbabwe could be considered one of the key turning points of the tournament.
3. Indians' win against England in the semifinal was the second turning point.
4. Though Kapil's 175 stands tall even today, the Indian team's progress was a solid team effort, with perhaps no one claiming the man of the series award. Who can forget the contributions of Madan Lal, Roger Binny, Mohinder Amarnath, Kirti Azad and Srikkanth?
5. Having spoken about the team work, I will fail if I did not mention the captaincy or mentor role that Kapil reportedly played throughout - egging his team members on, telling them that they could do it.
Re: My 1983 world cup memories
by vikadakavi on Jun 25, 2012 01:43 PM
I forgot to mention the stand given by Kirmani in the partnership with Kapil against Zimbabwe.
