1983 World Cup: When Kapil Dev's devils turned the world 'upside down'

The 1983 World Cup Indian cricket team not only created history but also set a benchmark for future cricketers of the game Being the underdogs of the tournament having won just 1 WC match against East Africa India had no hopes of reaching further than group stages But that all was about to change with Kapil and CoIn a detailed chat with sports journalist columnist author and writer Ayaz Memon RadioCitys RJ Salil delves into the nittygritties of the golden era of Indian cricket and mainly the 1983 World Cup as it wasOne of the game changers was the 1983 World Cup where Team India was looked at as world beaters83 was a huge reflection point The first independent Test series for India was led by Vinoo Mankad against Don Bradmans invincible Aussies Vijay Hazare went on to score two hundreds in a Test at Adelaide Virat Kohli went on to replicate the same feat after 70 years at the same groundVinoo Mankad Vijay Hazare Lala Amarnath were all the great players of that time But the era of the fifties the first Test match that India won was courtesy Vinoo Mankad He was also the hero in the first win against Pakistan as well as involved in the highest partnership at the time 413When asked about the importance of the 1983 WC for Indians and especially for journalism Ayaz Memon said This tournament was very important for me personally During that time I was pursuing law and had also got an opportunity to write for a sports journal After I saw the 83 tournament I decided to quit law and pursue sports journalism This was a careerdefining series for meThe speciality of 83 was team spirit and chemistry There was a perfect balance in the team Many of the allrounders Madan Lal Mohinder Amarnath Roger Binny These cricketers had rich experience in league cricket as they were familiar with the overseas conditions Other great players like Gavaskar who was out of form but added value Against England in the semis he scored 25 important runs to keep the pressure on the opposition which was vital We had a monumental performer in Kapil Dev who helped redefine international cricket on a certain level he addedJournalists would have to pay for their on airfare The media and the Indian team shared a friendly and informal relationship back thenAyaz continued The first match for India was against West Indies at Old Trafford and I skipped it as I could not afford the train fare I instead went to watch the England v New Zealand game The reason for that was my obsession with this young player called Martin Crowe I preferred to catch this game that watch India get thrashed Martin scored around 80 so I was delighted but also heard that India put Windies in a tough spot That was a lesson for me as a journalist dont take your eyes of the ball Post that I did not miss a single ball of Indias matchWhen asked his thoughts about the binding factor in Team India then Ayaz replied Mohinder Amarnath played a bigger role as Kapil was a young captain He was just appointed as skipper and the dressing room dynamics do change Mohinder understood the inout of Indian cricket and was composed Other players who kept up the team spirit and were pranksters too Sandeep Patil Kirti Azad Kris Srikkanth Syed Kirmani these guys would keep the dressing room atmosphere light needless if you do well or notNext up was India vs Zimbabwe Upon reaching the dressing room when India were about 114 Ayaz bumped into the experienced Gundappa Viswanath upon asking the state of the match replied with Everythings fine Kapil Dev then began piling on runs to avert a onesided affairThe crowd mostly consisted of senior citizens and pensioners with fewer youngsters more of the club members attended the game Kapil Dev went on to score 175 out of a total of 265Ayaz Memon was one of the very few journalists to watch this historic innings liveIn my opinion it is the greatest ODI innings ever played Many Indians have hit double centuries but Kapils 175 is even greater than Viv Richards 189 for me as it came with a baggage of 175 and Kapil being a middleorder batsman and captainPost that match India got a grip on the World Cup and went on to win the World Cup which turned the cricket world upside downAfter India lifted the 1983 World Cup Ayaz recalls Clive Lloyd and Desmond Haynes visiting the prudential tent where he was as well No other Windies cricketer attended needless to say whyKapil Dev and Cos historic World Cup title triumph was made into a Bollywood biopic directed by Kabir Khan which released on Dec 24 2021 and starred Ranveer Singh in the lead role as Kapil Dev The movie went on to be a huge success critically and commerciallyWatch the full video below