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Cricket Players'39 years of Kapil Dev's legacy...': Twitter celebrates India's historic 1983 World Cup win against West Indies
The Indian team's journey was no less than a fairytale with the cricket world witnessing one of the biggest upsets in the history of the game.
Indian fans on Saturday recalled the historic 1983 World Cup win – the day that changed the nation's cricket history forever. It was on this day in 1983 when Kapil Dev-led Indian team beat two-time champions West Indies and etched its name in the history books. Lord's was the venue for India's triumph as Kapil became the first Indian skipper to lift the trophy 39 years ago. He was also the youngest skipper to win the title at 24y 170d.
The journey was no less than a fairytale with the cricket world witnessing one of the biggest upsets in the history of the game. A lower-ranked Indian team, quoted 66:1 by bookies, trumped a dominant West Indies team which was full of stars.
India managed to gather just 183 runs as Andy Roberts took three wickets while Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, and Larry Gomes claimed two wickets each. For India, Kris Srikkanth top-scored as he played a knock of 38 runs, with no other batter managed to go breach the 30-run mark.
The total looked fairly chaseable, thanks to the batting firepower of West Indies comprising the likes of Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Vivian Richards and Clive Lloyd.
With 184 needed for a win in the 60-overs-a-side game, they got off to a promising start, with skipper Richards hitting 28-ball 33. However, Kapil's sensational catch changed the course of the game as the dominant Windies side slumped to 76/6 before bundling out for just 140.
Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal shone with the ball, picking three wickets each as India made history with a historic 43-run triumph. Amarnath was chosen as the Man of the Match as he scored 26 runs with the bat along with his match-defining bowling performance. He took three important wickets for just 12 runs in seven overs to spark the West Indies collapse.
"Team India created history by winning the World Cup for the 1st time under the captaincy of Kapil Dev. A historic and memorable day for Indian cricket!" wrote one fan.
"On 25 June 1983, Indian cricket stormed into a new era when Kapil Dev’s men outplayed a formidable West Indies side led by Clive Lloyd in the final of the World Cup at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground," tweeted another.
“We went to Lord’s for the final and again everyone said that India had done well but now we didn’t stand a chance,” Kapil told Wisden India.
“Everyone started saying that the West Indies were going to win it once again, for the third time. But I think we had something that no one knew about. There was something up our sleeve — it was the self-confidence and the self-belief,” he added.
