Unbeaten India wary of World Cup's 'glorious uncertainties'

India are the overwhelming favourites to lift a third World Cup but a star of the countrys 1983 breakthrough triumph has warned of the threats posed by crickets glorious uncertainties Rohit Sharmas side have cruised into the semifinals where they will face New Zealand on Wednesday with nine wins from nine matches in the group phase Now Syed Kirmani who played a major role in the 1983 title victory which set India on the road to becoming the sports financial powerhouse has warned against complacency undermining the nations hopes Kirmani 73 believes the West Indies who arrived at the 1983 World Cup as twotime champions paid the price for underestimating India Superb Kirmani told AFP when asked for his thoughts on the 2023 World Cup side who are looking for a third title and first since MS Dhonis team triumphed at home in 2011 They are playing like champions like the West Indians did Nobody is going to think that India is going to lose and I am very positive that India will win this World Cup But with the glorious uncertainties of this great game you never know You cannot take things for granted like the West Indies in 1983 India had shown early signs of things to come at the 1983 tournament when they also beat the West Indies in their opening match Kirmani said that win was a shot in the arm to their confidence and India capitalised on the complacency of the bigger teamsAlso ReadThe unbeatable underdogs and everything in betweenThe Kapil Devled squad went in as underdogs but also defeated Australia and then England in the semifinals In a lowscoring final at Lords India won by 43 runs despite only defending 183 Madan Lal dismissed Viv Richards for 33 with Dev running back to take a stunning catch which turned the tide All along we played good cricket as a team Roger Binny now the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI told AFP Key for Binny was the 118run win over Australia in the group stage before a sixwicket victory against England in the semifinal We just started to play well We had beaten Australia in the game before the semifinal Before the tournament they were tipped to win the cup recalled Binny Then onwards our game changed gears and we started to play better We won the semifinal very easily Binny played a key part in the 1983 victory taking 18 wickets with his mediumpace to finish top of the bowling charts which included Richard Hadlee New Zealand Malcom Marshall West Indies as well as Kapil Dev It wasnt all smooth sailing however when India faced elimination from the tournament in a mustwin game against ZimbabweAlso ReadFandom at its finestDevs memorable innings of 175 not out famously saved India after they had slipped to 175 and 1408 He took India to 2668 and then the team bowled out Zimbabwe for 235 I have never seen such a blistering devastating knock from any cricketer wicketkeeperbatsman Kirmani who shared a 126run unbeaten stand with Dev and made 24 said of the epic innings From 22 yards I saw the most memorable and the best innings And from there it was history Dev was part of an Indian team with many allrounders including Binny Lal Balwinder Sandhu and Mohinder Amarnath who took three wickets in the final to be named of the match Veteran sports journalist Ayaz Memon says the 2023 team and their 1983 predecessors have one key factor in common deadly bowling attacks The only parallel that we can draw is how well the bowlers have performed Indias bowling was never renowned in 1983 certainly not Memon told AFP With agency inputs