After India won the 1983 Cricket World Cup, the nation was uplifted by an undeniable feeling of patriotic fervour. In the opinion of Krishnamachari Srikkanth, this was the greatest positive to emerge from that remarkable feat.
At The Huddle session here on Sunday, the audience was treated to anecdotes from three members of that squad: Syed Kirmani, Roger Binny and Srikkanth. Historian and cricket writer Mukul Kesavan was the moderator.
“The morning after we won, we walked on the streets of London as world champion. That proud feeling of being an Indian resonated among our fellow countrymen all around the world,” Srikkanth said.
Before the tournament began, however, the Indian players were not a confident lot. “We saw it as a flight to New York, with a stopover in England. We thought that we would exit before the knockout rounds, and then head to New York for a holiday. Only Kapil Dev believed in us. He is the ultimate hero of that team,” the opening batsman said.
Preview to miracles
India’s first match of the campaign, against the mighty West Indies, turned out to be a preview of miracles to come. Batting first, Kapil’s men racked up 262 for eight in 60 overs. West Indies cruised to 67 for two in 22 overs, before rain interrupted play. “When we resumed play the next day, the conditions had turned from sunny to overcast. The ball was doing all sorts of tricks. The West Indies batters were clueless,” Binny, who took three crucial wickets in that encounter, said. The underdogs recorded a 34-run victory, and it was off to the races.
Next came one of the most-talked-about knocks in the history of the sport. Down and out at 17 for five against Zimbabwe, Kapil smashed an incredible 175 not-out from 138 balls to rescue his side. Kirmani, who put on 126 runs with his skipper for the ninth wicket, said, “I was eating toast before having a shower, when someone yelled at me and asked me to pad up quickly. Our innings had just started, so I thought someone was playing a prank on me. I realised soon enough that this was no joke. I went out and told Kapil to just play his shots. And Kapil went bang, bang, bang. It was amazing,” Kirmani said.
“Our manager, Hanumant Singh, a superstitious man, ensured that every player stayed in the same position until our innings ended. Srikkanth was standing near the boundary line with his wife. The poor guy wanted to attend nature’s call, but Hanumant refused him permission,” Kirmani laughed and said. For the trio, it is the final that stands out. It was Srikkanth (38, 57b) who top-scored against a fearsome West Indian bowling attack. “I asked Jimmy [Mohinder Amarnath], ‘Yaar, how the hell do I face Micheal Holding, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts and Malcolm Marshall?’ Jimmy replied, ‘Chika, just play your shots da.’ I had the licence to kill,” Srikkanth said.
And how about Balwinder Sandhu cleaning up Gordon Greenidge with that deadly in-swinger, Kirmani recalled, “I ran up to congratulate Ballu [Sandhu] and said, ‘Yaar, what an in-swinger that was!’ Ballu replied that he actually wanted to bowl an out-swinger, and requested me not to tell anyone about this.”
Enter Sir Viv Richards. The original master blaster quickly got going, and the 184-run target began to look woefully inadequate.
“The way Viv was smashing it through cover, I thought that West Indies would win before the tea break,” Srikkanth said.
Once again, Kapil would save the day. An outstanding catch cut Viv’s knock short. The Windies crumbled soon after, and India had achieved the impossible. “Our cricket board announced a cash award of Rs. 25,000. It was big money for us, and we celebrated with great joy. Imagine that!,” Srikkanth said.
