India's Journey of becoming World Champions...
Before the start of 1983 world Cup, Australia Captain Kim Hughes predicted that "India would be the darkhorse of the world cup". No one gave a thought at that time on his statement but how true it turned out later
In the 1983 Cricket World Cup, India was placed in group B alognside two times World Champions - West Indies, Powerful Australia and minnows Zimbabwe.
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Out of the total 8 matches, India won 6 including the final. Lets look at India's journey in 1983 World Cup:
June 9, 1983 - India v West Indies at Manchester
India won by 34 runs (Ind 262/8; WI 228)
India started their jounery with the first match against mighty West Indies. Till then West Indies never lost a match in world cup and history was about to change. India shocked all with terrific performance as they beat West Indies by 34 runs at Manchester. Yashpal Sharma with the bat (89 from 120 balls) and Roger Binny alongside Ravi Shastri with the ball (3 wickets each) helped India to won their first group match.
11th June 1983 - India v Zimbabwe at Leicester
India won by 5 wickets (with 22.3 overs remaining) (Zim 155; Ind 157/5)
India comfortably won the second match against Zimbabwe by 5 wickets. Madan Lal was the chief architect in India's inning who picked up 3 wickets early in Zimbabwe inning and they were never able to recover from the early damage. Later on, Sandeep Pail scored a quick fifty to ensure team's victory.
13th June 1983 - Australia v India at Nottingham
Australia won by 162 runs (Aus 320/9; Ind 158)
Australians put a break on India's winning streak when they thrashed India by 162 runs at Nottingham. Against a mammoth total of 320 set by Australia, Indian batting line collapsed and Kenneth Hervey MacLeay was mainly responsible for it who picked up career-best of 6/39.
15th June 1983 - India v West Indies at The Oval
West Indies won by 66 runs (WI 282/9; Ind 216)
The loss against Australia was soon followed by another poor performance against West Indies when India lost by 66 runs at the Oval. West Indies set a mighty target of 283 for India. Viv Richards scored a brilliant century (119). Chasing down the target, Indian batting once again crumbled and apart from Mohinder Amarnath (80) and no other batsman was able to play a big inning.
18th June 1983 - India v Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells
India won by 31 runs (Ind 266/8; Zim 235)
India's next match was against Zimbabwe. India were 5-17, when Kapil dev played one of the most incredible innings (175* off 138 balls) of his career and along with Syed Kirmani helped India to post 266/8 in 60 overs. Indian bowlers responded well and ended up winning the match by 31 runs.
20th June 1983 - Australia v India at Chelmsford
India won by 118 runs (Ind 247; Aus 129)
3 wins from 5 matches filled Indians with confidence and this clearly reflected in the last group where they thrashed Australia by 118 runs. India posted 247 in 60 overs. Madan Lal and Roger Binny shared 8 wickets (4 each) to bowl out Australia for 129.
22nd June 1983 - 1st Semifinal: England v India at Manchester
India won by 6 wickets (with 5.2 overs remaining) (Eng 213; Ind 217/4)
India was in the Semi-final of 1983. A big feat for a team which managed to won just 1 match in previous two world cups. India comfortably beat England by 6 wickets in the first semi-final at Manchester. Opting to bat first, England batting failed miserably and were able to put just 213 on the scoreboard. Indian bowling led by skipper Kapil (3/35), Binny (2/43) and Amarnath (2/27) put the England on the back-foot. Mohinder Amarnath (46), Yashpal sharma (61) and quick fifty from Sandip Patil (51* from 32 balls) ensured India's birth in the final. Mohinder Amarnath was awarded man of the match for his brilliant allround performance.
25th June 1983, Final - India v West Indies at Lord's
India won by 43 runs (Ind 183; WI 140)
25th June 1983 - A Golden day in the history of Indian Cricket. No one ever thought of a final between India and West Indies. Before the match, Kapil Dev upset with the pitch as it was more in favour of bowlers (Kapil told in an interview). West Indies won the toss and opt to bowl first on a green wicket. India managed to score just 183 runs. Only Kriss Srikkanth (38 from 57 balls) and Mohinder Amarnath (26 from 80 balls) were able to contribute to scorecard.
During the break Kapil said to his team, "Team if this is not a winning total its definitely a fighting total". His words done the magic and India stunned the world by beating West Indies by 43 runs in a low-scoring match at the famous Lord's ground. Amarnath was the most economical bowler, conceding just 12 runs from his seven overs while taking 3 wickets, and was once again awarded the Man of the Match award for his all-round performance.
From the Tournament's Dark Horse to World Champion the journey was tough but undoubtedly the most memorable. Clive Llyod said in an interview after the final - "Indian cricket has arrived. And it's here to stay...,".
Sahir
