25th June, a special day etched in the memories of all Indians.

Indian captain Kapil Dev lifting the Prudential Cup

           Credits : ICC 

25^th June, the day when Indian Cricket transformed completely!

25^th June 1983, the day when India’s stature in cricket changed and the day when people in India started taking cricket seriously otherwise it was just a game before this day. So what’s special happened on this day, as in God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar’s words “a day that changed the Indian cricket history forever, a joy we felt and the pride on witnessing India win the world cup.” 39-years-ago on this day, Kapil Dev led India beat the mighty West Indies led by Sir Clive Llyod in the prudential cup final.

India started as the underdogs in the tournament but in the end went on to take the cup back home, all thanks to the confidence and determination Kapil dev had. Beating that West Indies team wasn’t a cup of tea instead it took the heart and soul to overcome that team which had Sir Viv Richards, Sir Clive Llyod as the captain, Sir Gordon Greenidge, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Michael Holding, and Sir Andy Roberts in it.

It was a well-known fact among the Cricketing world that India in any term can’t lift the Prudential Trophy considering the fact that they left for the mega campaign without even a coach or a doctor. Veteran Mohinder Amarnath took the responsibility of coach along with the skipper Kapil dev and Sunil Gavaskar.

Few were there in the Indian camp as well who hadn’t believed in this team and one of them from this ‘few’ were Kris Srikkanth who had already flight tickets booked after the tournament. But he didn’t know a historic moment where he was unforgettable too was waiting for him.

This argument could favor the critics as well (of they can’t lift the trophy) cause India had won only just 1 match previously in the two world cups they played. In this tournament, India went on to win 6 matches out of 8 they played including the win against West Indies in a group game, beating Zimbabwe twice, a win over Australia in one of the group games, beating England in the semi-finals beside a title-clinching win in finals.

In a press conference of skipper Kapil Dev, it was asked to him that “for what are you here for” and he had a very gentle answer, “we are here to win.” Probably this was the statement that enlightened the spirit of win and only win among the underdogs Indian squad.

World Cup winning Indian squad

Kapil had so much faith in himself that he went on to blast 175* runs in the penultimate league game against Zimbabwe when the Indian top-order was down to 17/5. Eventually, India won that match by 31 runs. Unfortunately, that match was not recorded as BBC was on a strike but the manager of the Indian team later revealed that it was due to a lack of interest in that match that the match was never recorded.

Probably to challenge this statement and to prove themselves at that stage, Kapil and his team equaled the day and night to win that cup. In the final match, it was Viv Richards and Clive Llyod against them but the motivation with which India took on the field was enough to destroy the hopes of Caribbean stalwarts to clinch their third prudential cup on the trot.

Batting first, India managed just 183 runs, thanks to the resilient batting effort by opener Kris Srikkanth who scored 38 runs in 57 balls having slammed 7 fours and a six in it. It wasn’t only the highest score in this innings but was the highest in both innings combined with the second-best score by West Indian legend Sir Viv Richards (33).

West Indies couldn’t cross the line against the ruthless Indian bowling which stopped the giants at just 140 with Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath having shared 6 wickets between them. Kapil Dev and his men kept the words the skipper made in the press conference. This historic win marked the revolution of the Cricket game in India and the sub-continent with people taking this game seriously.

India produced many greats following this feat with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma who kept the spark shining even after nearly 40 years of that achievement.

The feat changed the height of Indian cricket among the world and India was no-more underdogs in any championship they participated in. India now has 2 world cups, 1 T20 world cup, and 2 champion trophies under their belt. No matter who won these trophies but the initial step was taken by this victory. As it marks the 39 years of achievement, let us overwhelm and stand tall for this team who reformed the cricket structure of India.