1983 – Kapil’s way of demons to a World Cup

No! I am not going to bore you with a story that every child in India can tell you. I want to reflect a bit on the fortunes of Indian cricket before the actual victory. I recently saw an interview with Imran Khan and he said that India’s victory in 1983 was a greater achievement than his team’s (Pakistan) victory in 1992 in Australia. The simple reason he gave was that the quality of the opposition in 1983 was higher. This Khan is not one to easily praise an Indian achievement. This should give you an idea of ​​the magnitude of this achievement. And how important this man Kapildev was to Indian cricket!

The way Indian cricket developed from the British Raj will give you an idea that they were basically docile cricketers playing on tame grounds against strong and aggressive opponents. India’s testing record around independence is terrible and I think they did not play to win but to not lose too much. I think Pataudi Jr, with a positive head-to-head record, was the first captain who instilled a fighting spirit in the team and the desire to win. Not to say that there were no aggressive players on the Indian team. In fact, the first captain of India was CK Naidu, who was a great player and a great hitter. He flayed the MCC team in 153 innings in 2 hours that people still remember. He hit 11 sixes in the innings. Must have scared the MCC bowlers. But winning cricket consistently isn’t just about one man’s heroics. It was different times and it was possibly a different setting. The transition of the Indian cricket team continued with Sunil Gavaskar who, while not aggressive by nature, was an excellent thinker of the game and led Indian cricket forward with quality batting and captaincy.

Kapildev came in in 1979 and a world-class aggressive-paced bowler and an all-rounder arrived that gave India the aggressive edge it lacked. India played in the 1975 World Cup, but the only match they won was against East Africa. The next match they won was in 1978. Of course, there wasn’t much one-day cricket played in those days. This was followed by another terrible world cup in 1979, in which they failed to win a single match. But slowly, with initial support from Karsan Ghavari and Roger Binny at Madanlal, Sandhu and Mohinder Amarnath Kapil found pacing bowling partners. They are not life-threatening fast players, but they are accurate and can swing the ball. Now, in the 1983 world cup team, except Sandhu, all these players were off-roaders; this was another plus. Kapil himself had several qualities. As well as being a world-class SUV, it was a great motivator. And I think that incredible punching ability that can only be matched by Vivian Richards of her generation. Different hitters, note that Kapil was less reliable as a hitter than Viv but, when he came out, he was very, very effective. This man, out of nowhere, when everyone was ridiculing the Indians, instilled in the team the belief that they could win. And they actually started winning matches at the 1983 Prudential Cup. That inning against Zimbabwe and Viv Richards’ catch in the final tells you that this man was awake and ready for the possibility of a World Cup win when the mere mortals would have given up. .

He was unconditionally supported by the team in 1983. Wow, if the opponents had walked into the Indian dressing rooms and understood the old Hindi, they would have realized who was going to win. The press and opponents continued to think that India’s victories on the way to the final were a fluke. Almost everyone on the team contributed to the team’s cause in one way or another. This world cup victory came against really big teams like the West Indies and Australia. Other good teams like Pakistan and England made their claim, but there was no way to stop Kapil’s demons.

Like after every great victory, the team had a lean period and Kapil also lost the captaincy. But the great man continued to perform with the bat or the ball, and sometimes both. There was a term for him in Indian cricket called “Dada” cricketer, which meant he was like an older brother to the team. He could win matches in unfortunate situations with just his cricket skills. The way Kapil played his game, carefree and with the goal in mind, brought the team together to give the country its biggest sporting triumph to date.