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A moment to cherish: Sandhu

G. Viswanath

CRICKET / Silver jubilee celebration begins on Sunday

Mumbai: A few hours at the golf course on Sunday morning in New Delhi will set off the silver jubilee celebration party for the 1983 Prudential World Cup winning Indian team. Without exception each member of the Indian team (and the manager P.R. Mansingh) is looking forward to a series of events, beginning with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) felicitation.

The golf part of the four-day merry reunion has been put in place by Vijay Mallya’s UB Group. “We have asked for 30 to 40 ball boys, not all of us can deal with various golf equipments. Some of us may hit the ball all over the course. Then on Monday we will be assembling at Kapil Dev’s house for a party,” said Balwinder Singh Sandhu who sent down a beauty to cause the downfall of Gordon Greenidge in the final at Lord’s on June 25, 1983.

The Mumbai seamer attributes the breakthrough largely to a Greenidge-dismissal he was responsible for in the Queens Park Oval Test in March ’83.

Never comfortable

“Greenidge was never comfortable picking my in-swinger bowled from close to the stumps. This happened for the first time at Trinidad. Then it happened again in the opening match of the World Cup at Old Trafford. The ball hit his pads before hitting the stumps. Something told me that he was not picking the in-swinger. In the final I bowled a number of out-swingers before the first in-swinger took the off and middle stump bail. Probably he was not expecting an in-swinger. If the ball had hit his pad he would have been probably declared not out. “It’s one of the best part of our lives. People don’t remember the straight road, always the turn to the left and right. The World Cup was the turning point in Indian cricket.

“In my case, people still talk about the Greenidge wicket and say thank you.”

Stump as souvenir

Part of the seam attack that exploited the English conditions, Sandhu is delighted he has a single stump from the final as a souvenir. “After the fall of the last wicket, I ran hard to pick up a stump at the non-striker’s end. By the time I reached there, I was surrounded by hundreds of Indian supports. A number of them tried to snatch the stump, but I managed to hold it tight. “Some of us had a great time at Madan Lal’s house on June 14. The World Cup win will remain a cherished moment in my life and I am looking forward to a good time from this Sunday,” trailed off Sandhu.

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