1983 - my emotions

It is seldom in life you get to witness
ONE event in your lifetime that stays
green with you forever as you carry
with you its Surprise, Triumph,
Passion, Lessons, Truths, and its, Spirit
of Hope!
Sai Narain CDK
1983
my emotions

1983 – my emotions!
Dear Friend, I need to begin with a caution that this is a long narrative and you are likely to enjoy it and relate to it if you
are a Sports Lover, even more so a Cricket Lover. However, even if you are not, you may fall in love with this story if you
are someone who has seen the ups and downs in life, and if you haven’t and are still young, you will hopefully take a few
tips on how to deal with them, ahead in your life.
On that watchful note, let me try narrating this lifetime tale as best as I can!
There has been a lot of buzz around the recent Indian movie, 83 which is based on the Indian Cricket teams 1983 Cricket
World Cup victory. Also there are some mixed reactions about the movies’ underwhelming box office performance. Having
watched the Semi Final and Final, Live on my Black & White TV while I was in Grade 10 back then 38 years ago, and
having watched the movie now, I can tell you that the Victory then and the Movie now are priceless and box office
collections cannot and should not measure the success. I am particularly emotional about this team. Is there any sports
team in the world, in any sport, that has remained as a team together after 38 years. I see this team quite regularly at
events and they are doing something together almost every year for the last 38 years. They still recognize themselves as
one unit so much so they have a watsapp group, if that’s any measure of team cohesion. They even apparently had a
Sunday club in their playing days, where the team used to meet to unwind. And on 25 th June 2008, the team went to
the Lords cricket ground, London, to celebrate 25 yrs remembrance of that famous 1983 World Cup win at that very
venue. Some role model of togetherness.
For those who watched the movie 83, you might have picked a few things I write here but there are some things by way
of context which may be quite interesting especially for those who weren’t born yet in 1983 or were just born around
that time. Therefore pardon me for any repetition. I have used information across the internet while compiling this and
wish to express my thanks to all of them who put that out there.
Many of you may not know that the first ever cricket one-day match was played in 1962 when four English county cricket
teams filled in a gap to play in a limited overs knockout competition. It was won by Northamptonshire who defeated
Leicestershire by five wickets.
Nine years later in 1971, the first One Day International took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as a
replacement for the third test of the 1970–71 Ashes series between Australia and England. This was due to heavy rain
that washed out play for the first three days of the test. A 40 over match was played with each over being eight deliveries.
After England made 190 from 39.4 overs, Australia chased the target at a steady rate to secure the match with 42 balls
remaining.
Infact later after two years the first cricket World Cup was at Lords and it was the 1973 Women's Cricket World Cup. It
was during this event that plans were made for a men's tournament to take place in 1975. The tournament was planned
to involve all the Test nations at the time in two group stages with the top two in each group qualifying for the knockout
stage with the final at Lord's.
The 1975 Cricket World Cup (officially called the Prudential Cup '75) was the inaugural men's Cricket World Cup, and
the first major tournament in the history of One Day International (ODI) cricket. Organised by the ICC, it took place in
England in June 1975. The tournament was sponsored by Prudential Assurance Company and had eight participating
countries, the six Test-playing teams of the time – Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies and the
two leading Associate nations at the time Sri Lanka and East Africa.
The West Indies which came into the tournament as favourites, defeated Australia in the final at Lord's by 17 runs to
become the first World Cup winners.
India won one of the 3 group matches against East Africa in the 1975 World Cup. Infact in their very first ever World Cup
match against England, India scored 132/3 in 60 overs in reply to England’s 334/4 in 60 overs. Sunil Gavaskar batted
all 60 overs and remained not out on 36.
You may be curious to know the Indian Team of the 1975 World Cup,
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S Venkataraghavan (c)
Syed Abid Ali
Mohinder Amarnath
Bishen Singh Bedi (vc)
Farokh Engineer (wk)
Anshuman Gaekwad
Sunil Gavaskar
Karsan Ghavri
Madan Lal
Brijesh Patel
Eknath Solkar
Gundappa Viswanath
Syed Kirmani (wk)
Parthasarathy Sharma
And then the 1979 Cricket World Cup (again officially called the Prudential Cup '79) was the second edition of the Cricket
World Cup and was held again in England in June 1979.
The tournament had eight teams participating in the tournament with the only change being Canada as the 8th team
instead of East Africa. West Indies, again tournament favourites, and England met in the final at Lord's with the West
Indies defending their title from four years earlier with a 92 run victory. India lost all 3 group matches in the 1979 World
Cup.
Half the Indian team that played the 1975 edition was intact for the 1979 tournament, with some new and young players
like Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar who joined the team which had the following lineup,
Srinivas Venkataraghavan (c)
Mohinder Amarnath
Bishan Bedi
Anshuman Gaekwad
Sunil Gavaskar
Karsan Ghavri
Kapil Dev
Surinder Khanna
Wicket Keeper
Brijesh Patel
Dilip Vengsarkar
Gundappa Viswanath
And then the tournament moved to 1983 again called the Prudential Cup, again in England and again in the month of
June in 1983. Many weren’t born yet, when 1983 happened or were just born to understand or watch the game, which
is all who acted in the movie 83 and even all the players who won the 2011 World Cup.
For the 1983 event, the seven teams of 1975 and 1979 were retained with the only change being Zimbabwe as the 8 th
team.
Red ball, White dress, 60 overs, the famous Dicky Bird as Umpire, no TV adverts, not even a Live Telecast. Only the Semi
Final and Final was telecast live by Doordarshan. No 3 rd umpire, no reviews, no powerplay, no field restrictions, no bouncer
restrictions. There was a Lunch break after first 30 odd overs in the first teams innings.
I was watching all of this in the Semi’s and Finals on a B&W TV called Konark, at around 10pm.
Unlike in the 1975 and 1979 Cricket World Cups, the 1983 format was a test of consistency with group stages played
in a double round robin format. Group A comprised the hosts England, Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, while Group
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B had reigning champions West Indies, India, Australia, and Zimbabwe. Matches took place simultaneously at multiple
venues, with matches played every other day and a reserve day in case of rain.
Group B started with the first shock of the tournament, as Zimbabwe beat Australia in what Wisden described as "a bigger
surprise than any in the previous two World Cups". Duncan Fletcher led the way, making 69* and being awarded man of
the match.
In the other opening Group B match, India delivered another "shocker" as they beat the holders West Indies by 34 runs,
bowling them out for 228 with 35 balls to spare -- the 1st ever defeat suffered by the mighty West Indies in a World Cup
as they had dominated both the 1975 and 1979 tournaments without losing a single match in either edition!
In their 2nd game India comfortably beat Zimbabwe by 5 wickets and now had two back to back wins after having won
only one game in the last two World Cups combined. However Two days later, Australia thrashed India by 162 runs.
Again in their 4th game, India lost to West Indies by 66 runs, with Viv Richards making 119 and for the second time in
the tournament, an opposing batsman retired hurt by a Windies fast bowler as Dilip Vengsarkar was the unlucky batsman
on this occasion, hit in the mouth by Malcolm Marshall. Vengsarkar never played the rest of the tournament.
So, two back to back wins followed by two back to back defeats for India.
India’s 5th Group match vs Zimbabwe on June 18th 1983 was described by Wisden as "a remarkable match which
contained one of the most spectacular innings played in this form of cricket", as Kapil Dev coming in to bat with India at
9/4 that soon became 17/5, went on to score 175 not out from India's score of 266/8, which Zimbabwe narrowly failed
to chase down, India winning by 31 runs. This win kept India in the race for the Semi Final. As you may know this match
was never video recorded as BBC was on strike that day.
The final group B match was a straightforward tussle for qualification between Australia and India. However, after India
had made 247 all out, in a team effort where the highest score was 40 and there were 37 extras, Australia collapsed to
129 all out, with Madan Lal and Roger Binny taking four wickets each.
India did the unbelievable. Entering the Top 4 of the 1983 World Cup.
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The Semi Final clash was, India vs England. The Indian Team now went in with some belief.
England batted first and started strong. At 69/0 in 17 overs, after Kapil and Sandhu go wicket less, Roger Binny strikes
twice. And then the ever graceful David Gower was taken out by Jimmy Amarnath’s seemingly lazy bowling.
The stroke filled Alan Lamb perished when Yashpal threw at the non strikers end though he was right next to the strikers
end where Mike Gatting was running. It showed a cricketer with immense presence of mind as Gatting was quick and
made his ground but Lamb running towards the far end wasn’t fast enough and thought anyways he was not running to
the danger end. Yashpal the reliable fielder was at play!
Jimmy then takes out Gatting with a leg cutter.
I never saw any jumping or fist thumping by bowlers. They were modest and used to amble across slowly and a few
players come by and gently pat them. That was all the celebration whenever a wicket fell.
Then they thought Ian Botham will take the game away but Kirti Azad’s gentle offspin does him in.
England makes 213 in 60 overs and is bowled out of the very last ball.
India sniff the chance to make it to the final.
Bob wills is a formidable bowler but India did see more destructive stuff from the Windies earlier on in the group matches.
We pick up play with Bob Willis running in to bowl to Sunil Gavaskar, probably the one Indian batsmen in that team who
never wore a helmet in his career as the bat was his most potent weapon of defense and offense.
With Bob Wills, Ian Botham and Paul Allot, England did have a formidable pace attack.
In about 40 overs India score 135 for 2 with Jimmy Amarnath and Yashpal holding things together.
Jimmy is runout for 46 and Yashpal skies one after a well made 61.
At the other end the stylish Sandeep Patil is on a rampage and on 42.
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Kapil walks in at over # 55 and 7 runs left for a place in the final.
When it is 3 to win, Patil plays a cover drive and they run 2 and the crowds come in, as it always used to happen in
England in those days, thinking the game is over. It takes 10 minutes to clear the ground so that India can score the 1
winning run.
Bob wills the bowler and England captain, now asks all his fielders to come to the offside and closer to the boundary so
that they can run into the pavilion (which was on the offside) as soon as the 1 run was scored.
Wills bowls and Patil flashes outside off stump and connects and no one knows where the ball went but all 11 England
players and Patil and Kapil and the 2 umpires run towards the pavilion being followed by may be 30000 spectators with
Indian flags etc. What a sight. Its not even the final. click this short video link https://vimeo.com/663940973
The team did the unthinkable and therefore they had to extend their stay in England and their return tickets had to be
changed which may cost them money. Look at their problems then !
Only two members of this team have played all 3 World Cups and a few more played in 1979 as you see below,
S M Gavaskar (3 rd World Cup)
K Srikanth
M Amarnath (3 rd World Cup)
Y Sharma
S M Patil
Kapil Dev
K Azad
RMH Binny
SMH Kirmani
Madan Lal
BS Sandhu
Apparently, eve of the World Cup final, the Board president speaks to the team and tells them to just enjoy the game and
irrespective of the outcome, each player will get a bonus of Rs 25000…. This was considered a big bonus for the
players…. Take a deep breadth… and think about today’s IPL auctions!
The West Indies were an invincible team, winning the previous two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 which were the first
two World Cups incidentally and this being the 3 rd . West Indies were bruised badly by their first match defeat in India’s
hands and therefore they were spewing venom in their 2 nd group game which India lost by a mile and this is the match
where Vengsarkar was hit on his chin by a nasty bouncer from Marshall.
When you are out there playing an ODI you always wait for the bowler to go after. Who do you go after in a bowling line
up that has Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner.
English tabloids wrote off India which they had, since the beginning of the tournament. However a final against the mighty
mighty West Indies was just too much for India. Remember, in 3 World Cups up until this final, West Indies had lost only
one match and that was their opening match in this 1983 World Cup against India and they did avenge that fall in pride
in their 2 nd group match against India sending them to a crushing defeat but nothing like showing the world and India
who they are, in a final. Therefore the West Indies were I am certain getting ready to deliver some lethal blows in the final.
June 25 th 1983, Saturday, was a damp morning as one would expect in England but this was extra damp.
Clive Llyod was the West Indies captain in all 3 World Cups, and he must have been one solid leader to be captaining
across 3 World Cups. Lloyd wins the toss and asks India to bat.
Gavaskar and Srikanth open.
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Here I guess the team wouldn’t have minded if Gavaskar repeated his 1975 World Cup knock of 36 n.o. by carrying the
bat for 60 overs against England. India needed that stiff resistance at one end to be able to give themselves an outside
chance of putting up a fight, leave alone winning.
When you hear the nick names of these West Indies bowlers, that in itself is a bit terrifying.
Big Bird for Joel Garner, Hitman for Andy Roberts, Whispering Death for Michael Holding. While Malcolm Marshall didn’t
have a nick name, his real name was good enough as he had that lethal bouncer despite being the shortest of the West
Indies bowlers.
Play begins and the openers see off Roberts’ first over. Big achievement. And then came Joel Garner.
Experienced and specialist batsmen look for how the bowler is gripping the ball at point of delivery. This gives them an
idea of what kind of delivery that would be.
Now when Joel Garner bowls, apparently you can’t do this as the ball is like a lemon inside his palm, fully hidden almost
and you get the feeling his arm will hit your head when he releases the ball as it descends from such an height so much
so batsmen used to say that his arm was coming down from a height of 12 ft which gave the perception that it was
coming down from above the sightscreen, in a batman’s view.
Garners deliveries are flying like rockets but Gavaskar and Srikanth survive. Over number 3 from Roberts, Gavaskar goes
caught behind, little master in a rare lapse in judgement, lunging at an outside off delivery. Bit of bother for India.
Garner continues to spew venom as average height of each delivery is at chest level.
West Indies had a very arrogant (read confident) way of batting. Dominate the bowling and unsettle the bowlers and Viv
Richards led the way.
Srikanth had a similar style which probably helped. He played a few cheeky ones but also played some exquisite shots, a
pull of Roberts was a class apart followed by another pull that went like a bullet to the boundary. And then came an
amazing square cut off Garner. The more they bounced, the more aggressive Srikanth got. Looked like he was all set to
play a big knock that morning.
Now at the other end was Jimmy Amarnath.
ODI was still nascent and teams didn’t have separate players for Tests and ODI’s like today. Therefore the same Jimmy
Amarnath who could play a full day scoring 25 was batting #3 in a ODI World Cup final. When I finish this writeup you
will know the efficacy of this man in any format.
Jimmy Amarnath to this date in my personal opinion would rank in the Top 3 best batters of destructive pace bowling in
the world. When I say pace bowling, I mean the ball being hurled at him over after over, bouncing, cutting, swinging,
yorking and anything you can imagine. He is impenetrable. He has played the fastest ever bowlers across teams, West
Indies, Pakistan, Australia, England. He is also know as a man of infinite come backs. Whenever one thought Jimmy had
retired, the selectors would call him back as they were touring abroad and the wickets are pacy and bouncy and no one
can tire the ball and the bowlers as he did.
Also, to me, Jimmy has been the best player of the hook shot in the game. There is magic when he plays the hook shot
and that too off high pace and bounce.
Malcolm Marshall bowls and Jimmy hooks him for what I would say was the best shot of that final. click this short video
link https://vimeo.com/663940921 When you watch this delivery in slow motion you would think it was going to hit the
helmet of Jimmy and knock him down, watch carefully. But Jimmy knows exactly how and when to connect a bouncer for
a hook.
While this was going on, Srikanth at the other end continues to have fun and dispatches another menacing Holding for a
couple of boundaries.
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Now Marshall fires one straight in at the wickets and Srikanth falls lbw for 38, which little at that point did we know would
eventually be the top score of this final across both teams.
Now, can any batsman who follows, match up that aggression of Srikanth, which is key to scoring against the West Indies.
India was 85/2 in 28 overs and the commentator says, India has done well to bring up the rate to 3 an over which is not
bad at all against this attack.
It is Yashpal Sharma, who joins Jimmy Amarnath.
Now sometimes there are unforgettable sights. Larry Gomes the lone spinner in the West Indies line up (apart from Viv
Richards who bowls as well) bowls and Jimmy steps out and hits a graceful six. Not something I have seen often.
But soon after, Holding rips Jimmy’s off stump and he goes for 26 and still 30 overs left to bat.
Sandeep Patil plays some delectable shots as a few wickets tumble at the other end.
At 100 for 4 and 28 overs left, batsmen start playing lofted shots off Gomes instead of consolidating. Yashpal and Kapil
perish in this fashion.
Sandip Patil was one of the stylish batters in the Indian team those days and a power hitter. He did that to Gomes in the
final and Madan lal joined him as well.
Another ambitious shot by Patil off Garner and he perishes for 26. Patil could have gone on for a bigger score that
morning as he was in sublime touch.
So from 85/2, score tumbles to 153/8. Does this sound familiar!
Marshall bowls a nasty one at Sandhu which hits his helmet but he continues to bat and plays some exquisite shots.
Holding cleans up Kirmani and India bowled out for 183 in 54 overs. Pretty much Game over!
At the innings break, as what Krish Srikanth mentions in one of the videos, the mood was low in the dressing room. Till
this day a team that didn’t give itself an outside chance to go beyond the group stage, is in the final now and was feeling
some belief and therefore low as they probably gave up a good chance. Kapil’s words to the team I believe were, lets not
give in easily and lets make them fight for every run.
And Team India walks in to defend 183 in 60 overs against the West Indies whose openers by themselves normally score
those runs.
Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge have done many a 100 opening partnerships and were very much capable for
scoring 183 by themselves in half the overs, why 60 as they are ruthless from the word go.
India didn’t have the bowling might of the Windies. Kapil Dev, Roger Binny, Madan Lal were no match to the Windies
pace avalanche of Roberts, Holding, Garner and Marshall. But the Indian bowlers were crafty though. The question is if
they were crafty enough to defend such a low score to beat a West Indies just waiting to roar and conquer.
The two openers out in the middle, no helmets and looking all set to finish the game with their swagger and confidence.
Greenidge plays a flowing cover drive off Sandhu in his first over. 3 overs between Kapil and Sandhu go by and things
looking very comfortable for the West Indies.
Sandhu bowls over#4 and delivers that magic off-cutter which Greenidge thought was clearly going outside off and
decided to let it go and the ball cut in and bowled him. click this short video link https://vimeo.com/663940828
Sandhu said later that he normally bowls outswingers and bowled a rare inswinger which took Greenidge by surprise as
he was expecting the ball to swing away and hence shouldered arms. While Viv Richards dismissal is hailed as the turning
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point of this match, I personally think this Greenidge wicket was the turning point, as Greenidge would have finished the
game in a flash if he was at the wicket for about 15 to 20 overs. It opened the floodgates. The commentators words
were, unusual lapse by a man of Greenidges’ experience
Who else but the great Sir Viv Richards walks in at #3. Richards has nothing called a settling in time and he whacks
Sandhu to the boundary as soon as he takes guard. And does the same to Kapil. Only Richards knows why and how he
makes every bowler look so easy. Just casually leaning into every shot and effortlessly pulling, cutting and driving. Then
came Madan Lal and same result with the ball finding the boundary repeatedly. I recall even today after 38 years, at that
point I thought the Windies would win 183/1. Richards in that mood doesn’t need 60 overs. When Richards hits those
shots and walks around swaying his bat and chewing gum with a semblance of disdain for what’s around him, you can’t
help but believe that the game is over.
After giving 3 fours in his previous over, Madan Lal manages to get Haynes caught at cover. However Windies have
already raced to 50/2 in just 11 overs. Remember, it is a subpar score they are chasing.
Clive Lloyd walks in with a standing tribute all across the stadium, as that’s how respected he was in the Caribbean and
all over the cricket world. Lloyds was the West Indies captain in the 1975 and 1979 World Cup both of which WI won
and this was his 3 rd consecutive WORLD CUP and just a few hours away from a 3 rd consecutive World Cup win as captain.
Lloyd and Richards at the wicket meant, Game Over. Yes I have now said this multiple times. Lloyds plays one ball and
then pulls a muscle and asks for a runner. Is there some hope… wishful thinking, huh!
Madan Lal continues and bowls a short one to Richards who is in a hurry to wrap things up. He pulls this towards mid
wicket for a six… atleast that was his intent. Doesn’t time well and the ball goes very high and travels closer to the
boundary but is dropping about 10 yards inside the line… No fielder there but someone is running from backward of
square along the boundary and Kapil who was at mid wicket is running backwards towards the boundary to give it a
chance.. Kapil gets to the ball and makes one of the best catches look simple. Spectators run into the field and hug Kapil,
as if the game is over.. This was a common scene in England those days and that’s one reason in all matches both teams
used to run for their life to the pavilion once the last runs were scored as it could prove dangerous if that deluge of
spectators converged upon a few players click this short video link https://vimeo.com/663941283
Madan Lal and Roger Binny belong to that category of bowlers who thrive better if the wicket assists them and if it does,
they know how to keep it simple and leverage the wicket conditions to the fullest. And English wickets are best suited for
them.
In that spirit Madan Lal bowls an away seaming delivery to left handed Larry Gomes in the same over and Gomes edges
to Gavaskar at slips and there is some belief in the Indian camp. However the Windies bat deep down with Jeff Dujon and
Marshall being very competent batsman and the target being low, it was never a formidable task. And with Lloyd still at
the crease, 66/4 still didn’t look all that challenging for the Windies.
The only difference is, one of the teams was under no pressure at all and that was India. They came prepared for any
result though a win, however remote would ofcourse taste sweeter.
Binny bowls a half volley to Lloyd who hits a full blooded drive only to be caught at extra cover by Kapil and at 66/5 with
Lloyds gone, 183 does look like 275. Another field invasion. The ground is now full of spectators and the police are busy
chasing them away.
Faoud Bacchus plays a defensive shot on the offside and sets off for a single and Krish Srikanth runs in from cover and
hits the non striker stumps direct. Bacchus escapes but if there was a 3 rd umpire I think that would have been most likely
out. But that attempt by Srikanth showed the spirit of the team at that point. Now they believed they can win and were
going all out.
Many a time we talk about how critical it is to have a specialist keeper behind the stumps. Syed Kirmani has had his dry
patches and infact played the 1975 World Cup but was dropped from the 1979 World Cup. However on that day June
25 th 1983 he brought his A game. He never seemed to ever miss a ball that went past the stumps. He could just follow
the ball wherever it went, like a bee. Sandhu was back into the attack and delivers another gentle away moving delivery
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to Bacchus who flashes outside off and like a flubber Kirmani follows the edge upto first slip and takes the catch right
under the nose of Gavaskar at first slip.
West Indies 76/6.
Dujon and Marshall can be quite a game changer and with few runs to chase, they did fancy their chances. Dujon pulls
Sandhu for a low flat 6 to square leg.
West Indies 100/6 in 33 overs.
Dujon and Marshall started playing carefully knowing well that they had enough time in their hands. They kept running
sharp singles and not playing and flashy shots.
West Indies, 65 required in 19 overs and 6 wickets down.
India had to use a 5 th bowler apart from Kapil, Binny, Madan Lal, Sandhu. That option was Jimmy who was a part time
bowler.
Jimmy’s lazy bowling action can at times be very deceptive. He bowls one to Dujon with some extra bounce and Dujon
playing very safe now, lets that one go at the very last minute………not in time though and as he takes the bat away
from the ball, the ball hits the bottom edge and goes on to hit the stumps. If he stood still, the ball would have gone to
the keeper or he should have played it well forward. He was in two minds which did him in.
Jimmy delivers one more wide outside off stump and Marshall lunges forward and edges to Gavaskar at first slip.
West Indies, 8 down and still 60 to get.
Andy Roberts and Garner would have never imagined they would need to pad up and bat after doing such a great job
with the ball.
Remember in the first group match against the West Indies that India won, Roberts and Garner scored 37 each and added
71 runs for the 10 th wicket and almost took West Indies to victory in that match. Am certain this was playing in Kapil’s
mind.
Kapil fires one in and Roberts is trapped in front.
West Indies, 46 required in 9 overs with 1 wicket in hand. This looks unreal.
Amarnath to Holding, who plays all over a straight ball and Dicky Birds’ finger goes up and signals the conquest of Kapil’s
Devils. The players run for their lives into the pavilion and in less than 20 sec the ground is flooded with spectators click
this short video link https://vimeo.com/663941114
India wins the 3 rd Prudential cup which also comes with a huge!!! Prize money of GBP 20k.
And Jimmy Amarnath won the man of the match in the Semi Final and the Final… wow what a tournament he had.
Yashpal Sharma who was called the “Crisis Man” of the team and in that tournament played two crucial knocks, the 89
vs West Indies in the winning group game and the 61 vs England in the Semi Finals. Not to mention the numerous runs
he saved and the runouts. He is someone I reckon as the best chaser of the ball to the boundary line so much so I always
got the feeling he could run faster than the ball.
It is sad he is no more around to join the team in their celebrations but his role at the 1983 World Cup will live forever.
Love you Yashpal.
I love that West Indies team as much as I love that Indian Team. Clive Lloyds team was difficult to hate despite the menace
they have caused simply because they are too professional. They are quite unmoved by victory or defeat and their self
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confidence in their abilities is something for all to learn from. You will never see them using their mouth when frustrated.
Their reply is always with the ball or the bat and man, they will make sure you hear it loud and clear.
Malcolm Marshall was one of those, a super talented cricketer with amazing bowling skills and game changing batting
prowess too. Every time he takes that Bombay Marine Drive kind of runup, it feels like a wicket would fall. I was deeply
saddened when Marshall passed away due to illness in 1999 at the young age of 41.
When I was in school, our hobby amongst students was to exchange black and white photo stickers of these great
cricketers from across teams and stick them on the inside of the lid of our geometry boxes. Some players’ stickers were
difficult to get and would be exchanged only for another rare sticker. It was serious stuff. We saw these players only in
those stickers as there was no TV and live cricket update was through those radio commentaries of Ravi Chaturvedi and
Anupam Gulati and Kishore Bhimani who were so good that you would feel as if you are watching the matches live and
ofcourse the great Narottam Puri then came live on Television when the Semi finals and Finals of the 1983 World Cup
was telecast Live. Infact I learnt my broken Hindi by listening to Padma Shri Ravi Chaturvedi’s Hindi commentary. He could
talk a 1000 words in between deliveries to make sure that the listener never needs to feel their absence from the stadium.
If you search www.onthisday.com and look for June 25 th 1983, this is what comes up,
Historical Events
• "Evita" closes at Broadway Theater, NYC, after 1568 performances
• Cricket World Cup, Lord's, London: India upsets West Indies by 43 runs to win first title; Mohinder Amarnath
3/12 off 7 overs, Player of the Match
• Udo Beyer of East Germany sets record for shot put, 22.22 m
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I would frame this score board in my living room,
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For me, the 1983 cricket World Cup winning India team is special. It is for every Indian cricket fan.
Kapil believes, the standout of this team was Character.
To me, Team spirit is the spirit of the team when they lose and not when they win. When you watch this team you will
understand that. Teams tend to disintegrate with failure and that applies to sports or corporates or even families. That’s
the true test of that Character Kapil alludes to.
There is something special about this team and there are some special lessons I have taken home, most of which may
seem obvious though. In the spirit of the Game I have grown up with, here are 11 Life lessons I have taken with me
always from Team83,
1. It is sometimes good to be a underdog. Pressure is less and you do things for fun and therefore enjoy what
you do. And when you enjoy what you do, the best comes out – Until India got to the Semi Finals they gave
themselves little chance and took it one game at a time so much so, they had their return tickets booked before the
Semi Finals. No pressure indeed.
2. It is less important how others rate you. It is most important how you rate yourself, the belief you have in
yourself and your teammates. If that isn’t high, then you are unlikely to do well. Kapil repeatedly tried to focus
his team throughout the tournament, on this self-belief, especially when India lost two back to back matches in the
group stage.
3. The blessings of family and loved ones is sacrosanct for a team as it provides a very important psychological
boost which often goes unnoticed. Towards the end of the group stage when some of the players had their family
join them, there was a different vibe in the team which I noticed. I would give some credit to Romi’s presence for
inspiring that great 175 n.o. from Kapil ofcourse without taking away any credit from that humble legend.
4. A Captain is only as good as the team. However the Captain has to be good. He has to be the most positive
person in the team. He must be the last person to give up, even more, a person who will never give up hope.
There is enough evidence of Kapil living this value including the final where he somewhere at the corner of his heart
thought India could still win even with just 183 on the board. Hope at times can be powerful, but with the caution
that hope should not become a strategy.
5. The “Talk Less Act More” attitude always helps in success. Wagging tongues tire, the more they are abused
but working muscles fire the more they are used. I think the Indians picked this lesson from the very West Indies.
Kapil nicely points out how, when Tony Greg criticized the West Indies and never gave them a chance, ahead of the
1975 World Cup, the West Indians never reacted but just won the first two World Cups.
6. In a team game, every player will not succeed every time but that should not matter as long as the team
succeeds every time. There will always be the odd heroic performance and here the hero should stay humble
and he will by default silently inspire others. Yashpal, Amarnath, Kapil, Binny to name a few were match winners
across the tournament but never once they felt that way nor made anyone else in the team feel any less important.
Infact the great Sunny Gavaskar didn’t have the best of tournaments, which is rare, but his presence was so important
for the teams confidence and he was seen as so much part of the success with those two crucial catches in the final.
7. Transparency is key and each member should take out their frustration in front of each other and not behind.
This happens on a few occasions especially after the back to back defeats and Kapil does call out a few players, but
no one is offended as each member realise and are absolutely clear that there are no personal agendas but only One
team agenda.
8. In Sports, in Organisations, in Life, defeat or failure isn’t uncommon. Sometimes you lose a few battles. But
learning from every battle lost is important to win the war. This came through quite nicely in the way the team
regrouped after the two defeats and was almost starring down being eliminated in that fateful match against
Zimbabwe.
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9. When you are committed to a mission, a National mission, all else takes 2 nd priority. Yashpal and Sandhu stood
out here I must say. Despite being preoccupied with trying personal circumstances, they made an effort and put the
game and the quest for the World Cup ahead. This is not to mention that one shouldn’t have the right work/life
balance but it is a lesson on resilience.
10. Past is history and Future is a mystery but Present is real and it is in our “Gift” to use it to our advantage. If
this team were brooding over their performance in 1975 and 1979, they couldn’t have gotten anywhere, but Kapil
never let that happen. He kept repeating “we are here to win” as unreal as it sounded. Taking it one game at a time
without worrying too much about whether the team will make it to the Semi’s, lessened the pressure I must say.
11. Never let defeat get to your Heart nor Victory get to your head. As the Bhagwad Gita says, perform your
action and detach yourself from the result. This will minimize disappointments and demotivation and all the
2 nd and 3 rd order consequences of the cycle of victory and defeat. When you win, celebrate the success. When
you lose, celebrate the effort. But celebrate always as that’s the perpetual fuel for a team. I don’t need to
elaborate how the team lived this virtue.
In the 40 th year anniversary of this win, India will be hosting the 2023 Cricket World Cup. I’ll be delighted if the Board
appoints Kapil’s Devils as mentors of the India Team for the 2023 tournament. I am certain that will create magic.
Best Wishes and God bless Team83 and I have been waiting for 38 years and hope I am lucky enough to meet them
one day in person !
Author is a Banker, Social Entrepreneur, Organizational Strategist and a Crickophile
(sainaraincdk@hotmail.com)
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