On this day (June 25), 39 years ago, at Lord’s, the Kapil Dev-led Indian team did the unthinkable. The Indian men’s cricket team defeated the mighty West Indies in a low-scoring thriller to end Clive Lloyd & Co.’s dominance in the World Cup and win the third edition of the Prudential Cup.
India was asked to bat first and, riding on opening batter Krishnamachari Srikkanth’s 38 from 57 balls and Sandeep Patil’s 27 off 29 deliveries, India posted a total of 183 runs in 54.4 overs. The total was comparatively very low against the star-studded West Indies team of that time, but India managed to pull off one of the greatest results in cricket history.
The ‘Kapil Devils’ dismissed the Caribbean team for just 140 runs in 52 overs to win the match by 43 runs and bag the World Cup. For the Indian team, all-rounder Mohinder Amarnath, who also won the Player of the Final award, picked up three wickets for 12 runs in his seven overs. And fast-bowler Madan Lal also got rid of three opposition batters in his 12 overs.
One of the turning points of the final was when Madan dismissed star West Indies batter Sir Vivian Richards for 33 runs.
And as India celebrates the 39th anniversary of that historic triumph at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, former Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag took to social media to thank the legends of the 1983 World Cup-winning side for inspiring the country.
On this special occasion, Tendulkar took to Twitter and wrote: “Some moments in life inspire you & make you dream. On this day in 1983, we won the World Cup for the first time. I knew right then, that’s what I wanted to do too!.”
Joining Sachin his long-time opening partner, Sehwag, wrote: “Date mein kya rakha hai? Well, 25th June, is date mein shuruaat rakhi hai. It is a day on which India began it’s journey-in 1932 playing it’s first ever Test & 51 years later on 25th June 1983, Kapil Paaji & his boys winning the World Cup,which was a beginning for many cricketers.”
June 25 is a special day in Indian cricket. Apart from lifting the 1983 World Cup trophy, they also played their first-ever Test match on this day, against England at Lord’s in 1932.
