1983 Final: India Lords the Cup
Kapil was utterly disappointed after visiting the pitch at Lord’s on the eve of the 83 world cup final. He couldn’t believe his eyes. It was a green-top seaming wicket and the moisture in the pitch would make it a bowler paradise for sure. Kapil was praying to win the toss and wished to field first. That was the only way to avoid the four lethal quicks temporarily.
The Toss:
Kapil met with Lloyd in the middle. Lloyd was determined to win the cup for West Indies and complete the hat-trick. The coins flipped and the luck as well for India. Lloyd asked India to take the guard first.
The long walk to dressing room:
Kapil was sad but determined to fight. It’s a long journey he travelled along with Indian team to reach the final on a big stage for the first time in History. It was a moment of glory and he wanted to make it counted.
No one ever thought that India had any chance at the world cup. The players were very casual. India lost all their practice matches too. The first win came against West Indies in the group stage. It was a huge moment for Indian team. Kapil’s 175* Innings (Read more: Kapil’s 175* – The Game Changer) against Zimbabwe boosted the confidence of Indian team and helped them to believe in themselves. Before the final, Indian cricket board had announced a 25 thousand rupees bonus for each player to motivate them.
India Innings:
Gavaskar and Srikkanth took the guards and they were ready to face the deadly Roberts and giant Garner.
Gun Garner fired:
Garner was literally unplayable. The short of the length balls were giving all sorts of trouble to Indian openers. Soon Gavaskar was caught behind at 2. Jimmy joined with Srikkanth and started to negotiate the master class of Caribbean bowlers. Amarnath advised Srikkanth to play the natural game.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Partnership:
Srikkanth took on the opposition and smashed a couple of boundaries. Jimmy played a marvelous hook shot to the boundary against Marshall. India recovered well from the early loss of Gavaskar. However, Srikkanth missed the line of a ball and judged LBW to Marshall. India was 59/2. Yashpal Sharma came to crease and started to build the innings carefully with Jimmy Amarnath. They had a 31 runs partnership before Jimmy got out. Yashpal also fell quickly. India was 92/4.
Kapil’s plan:
Kapil joined with Patil in the middle. Lloyd gave a break to quicks and introduced spinners. Kapil thought it was an opportunity to score as many runs as possible before the quicks were back. While capitalizing the score Kapil got out at long on. India lost two more wickets in quick succession and struggled at 130/7.
Daredevil Tail-enders:
The failure of top and middle order exposed the tail soon. However, they resisted. Significant contributions from Madan Lal, Kirmani and Sandhu helped India to reach 183.
Innings break:
Team India was very disappointed with their batting performances. ‘183’ was below par score. Kapil called all the players and asked them to fight together and forced Caribbean players to work hard for every run. On the other hand, Caribbean players were relaxed. They were very happy to restrict India under 200 and almost certain about the third consecutive world titles.
West Indies Innings:
The dynamic duo Greenidge and Haynes proceeded to open the innings.
The first blood:
Sandhu provided the first breakthrough. He bowled Greenidge who completely misjudged the line. The master Viv Richards joined Haynes in the middle and took control of the game immediately. He was dealing with boundaries and all the Indian bowlers were helpless in front of him. They built a good partnership before Haynes got out at 13 and West Indies was 50/2.
Gut feeling
Madan Lal went for 21 runs in his three overs. Kapil wanted to give him a break. Madan requested for one more over and informed Kapil that he had taken Richards wicket before and he could do it again. Kapil passed the ball to him reluctantly. Richards went for a big hook shot on a short delivery and mistimed. The ball was high up in the air and Kapil charged towards it. He covered a long ground before catching the ball in just 15 yards inside the boundary. West Indies was 57/3.
Embed from Getty ImagesQuick fall of wickets:
Gomes and Lloyd fell quickly too. The wicket of Lloyd was very precious. Lloyd played a match winning knock of 102 at 75 world cup final and could turn the game single handedly. West Indies was 66/5.India sniffed the victory and tightened the bowling. Kiri took a blinder to dismiss Bacchus. Dujon and Marshall tried to put a partnership. However, Amarnath dismissed them and soon West Indies innings got wrapped up at 140.
The sweet victory:
India won the world cup by beating West Indies for the first time in History. No one ever thought of it and discarded team India from the world cup race at the beginning of the tournament. They proved them wrong and emerged as a new cricketing power. Kapil said everyone fought for their life.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe celebration:
It was total chaos in the dressing room and all the players were jubilant. India stayed at Westmorland hotel and the bhangra dance continued till the hotel lobby.
The world cup win inspired millions of Indians including many great players like Sachin to take the game as a profession. It changed the sports culture in India. Cricket took the front seat and became the most loving game of the country. One win changed everything.
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