In the break between innings, I did what what Indian fans have always done: I consoled myself with individual performances amid the collective wreckage. Individual performance, actually, in the singular: Srikkanth top-scored with 38. Reading the scorecard now, it's odd to notice that it took him 57 balls to make, because I remember it as a berserker innings.

Anyway, after the team folded, we drove to a friend's house because it seemed too depressing to sit indoors waiting for the West Indies to begin killing us. Venkat, who lived a few miles away, had a new colour television. I saw Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge take guard in colour. The West Indies didn't just have the four greatest fast bowlers in cricket, they also had an invicible top order. Haynes and Greenidge had been the best opening partnership in the game for years. Number 3 was Viv Richards, whose on-field aura was more menacing than that of most fast bowlers. Number 4 was the skipper, Clive Lloyd who had been giving Indians a hard time from the time I was twelve. And they batted all the way to eight.

But colour worked for us. Balwinder Singh Sandhu, the gentlest swing bowler in the history of cricket, got Greenidge to shoulder arms to a slow-motion in-dipper and that was the end of Greenidge. There was a nasty passage when Richards was cruel to Madan Lal, hitting him for lots of unnecessarily emphatic boundaries but that ended in colour too, with Kapil in whites bounding across green turf to catch a red ball dropping over his shoulder in his brown hands. We tore ourselves away from that magic box because we had to get home for dinner. By the time we got back, Lloyd and Larry Gomes and Faoud Bacchus were gone too, consumed, presumably, by the corrosive colour of Venkat's television. Mohinder Amarnath didn't let the handicap of my mother's old black-and-white set get to him: bowling even slower than Sandhu, he winkled out Jeff Dujon and Marshall who were threatening a lower order resurgence, and then, suddenly, the thing was done.

There were people screaming and little explosions in my corner of Delhi. All the accounts I've read of that famous victory have fire-crackers going off. And they're all true, because for once the phrase 'India rejoiced' wasn't a metaphorical flourish—it was literally true. The World Cup of 1983 was the first cricket event that had a national television audience in India. Indians had watched live cricket on television for years before 1983, but never as a networked national audience. Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay, Madras didn't watch the same programmes. Only with the Asian Games of 1982 did the National Programme come into being, which linked all of Doordarshan's broadcasting nodes for the same telecast. The result was that India's incredible win in 1983 was watched by a single pan-Indian audience, tens of millions of eyeballs transfixed by a single event.

This coincidence of national telecasting and World Cup victory transformed cricket in three ways.

It cemented cricket's primacy in India because this newly consolidated television nation wanted winners and Indian cricket team had delivered glory on cue. Two years later, our one-day heroes delivered again when, captained by Gavaskar, we won the World Championship, a one-off one-day tournament in Australia, this time in blue costumes (in 1983 the teams wore white). These two victories won cricket a new mass audience which was as interested in savouring the unfamiliar taste of international glory as it was in watching cricket.

This perfectly timed, nationally televised victory, created a massive captive audience for any company that had the sense to advertise its wares in the course of a cricket match. India hadn't yet emerged from the austerity of autarky and high tariff barriers (the Maruti 800 was launched the year we won), so this was an untapped ocean of consumers. Unsurprisingly Dhirubhai Ambani saw the opportunity first and staged the Reliance Cup in 1987. Pepsi moved in to India at the end of the decade and began recruiting actors and cricketers for its campaigns because they were the keys to India’s consuming classes. First Kapil Dev, then Mohammad Azharuddin, then Sachin Tendulkar and his generation became rich and the BCCI became powerful. By the time India began to open up its economy at the start of the Nineties, cricket owned the national audience and was perfectly positioned to milk a sub-continental market.

And once it became clear that India owned the world’s largest and most lucrative audience for cricket, the balance of power within world cricket changed decisively. For good and ill, India became the pivot of the ICC, of world cricket. The consequences of this shift in power are still working themselves out.

And all of this began that long ago summer evening in 1983, when spectators like me, individually clapping for India, found ourselves part of a national communion.

This post first appeared as an article in the April 2007 issue of Cricinfo Magazine

But then the current team is just flat pitch bullies unlike the great 83 team.

A very well written article Mukul. But sadly it was also to be the beginning of the end for the west indies. I think world cricket needs a strong west indian team. My first vivid memories of cricket was that of patrick patterson. I used to immitate his bowling action when i was 6. The late eighties & the early nineties were awesome. West indies, Australia, Pakistan, England were all powerful teams. Its really sad that the current teams are just a shadow of their old selves, barring the aussies ofcourse. If this trend continues, i see a slow & painful death for cricket.

"Change" is part & parcel of every walk of life .... Thats how it would be and thats how it could be.

Incidentally, we missed the drama of watching most of the West Indies top order collapse as there was no TV signal for around 90 minutes for technical reasons (something to do with the satellite). Most of us listened in disbelief to the BBC radio commentary for this period and by the time the pictures returned, Dujon and Marshall were at the crease.

My compliments to you on an evocative article. The scent of our nervousness behind that victory still lingers.

I was one of the few among my friends who felt India could achieve something in that World Cup. I even went ahead and wagered all of 100 rupees at that time - all of them against me. More than the considerable amount for me, which I felt I was compelled to agree to to back my belief and debate, and perhaps with an amount of bravado, I "needed" India to win because I had argued so strongly in favor of them with my friends.

It all began with the list of probables selected before the WC. With a one-day victory in WI under our belt just before that announcement, I scanned through that article in my newspaper very carefully. As I ran down the list, I found myself wondering if Indian selectors had hit a goldmine! For among that list of probables were names of men...men who could play with pride and do more than one thing at a time. As I looked around the other teams, I couldn't find one single team with a greater depth in batting and fielding. Thus, were born sown the seeds of my conviction and consequent arguments with my friends and that almost foolish wager I alluded to earlier.

It wasn't in the finals I was worried; no, not even after India folded up at 183; I was brimming with confidence that India could defend that score. My moment of nervousness and self-doubt came much earlier, when India was playing Zimbabwe and Kapil conjured up some magic.

It was then that I wavered in my conviction; the usually soothing deep baritone of my ancient Telefunken radio (with valves, knobs, and all) sounded hollow. I almost gave up in my belief there and then, but I sat on...manfully willing our players, whispering praters in through the slatted front of my window to the world. And the tide began to turn, in fours, singles and twos.

So I wasn't worried when India had scored only 183 in that finals. All my friends, who had congregated in my house to watch only the second international telecast on DD (semis vs England was the first), were sweating in anxiety. After all, they were recent converts to self-belief...only after India reached the semis, their faith was bound to be ephemeral.

With the 100 rupees I won, we bought crackers from an astute shopkeeper who had anticipated their off-season need and had put them out for display, and for the first time I burst crackers after a cricket match. There were dhols (drums), people all out on the streets and dancing, the tremulous laughter of relief emanating from all subtly giving way to full-throated proclamations of conquest and arrival.

What a night that was!

Bobby, all teams today are flat-pitch bullies. Even the Australian batsmen wouldn't survive on a tough pitch.

I was in IIT hostel and it is mid-night time and people gave up seeing us getting out with 183 and Viv Richards hammering Madan Lal. Only 6 of us with full optimism watched and when Dujon got out, we sensed victory and woke up the rest of the campus. Afterwards it was all history and none slept and roamed and danced with sweets and crackers pulling all the local population. All tea shopps were busy with people shouting with pride. Next day night the whole of the campus celebrated with people rejoincing with proud. That was a moment I can never forget as I was one among that 6 faithfully hoping that India can pull it off. I had full faith on Kapil's team as there were so many all-rounders. Right now we don't have one and that is the difference.

Great post Mr Mukul.
Unfortunately i am from the generation that missed out on the most glorious day in the history Indian cricket because of the reason that i wasnt even born then. i was born and brought up on the staple diet of the Tendulkars and Gangulys. But still the piece evoked memories of my dad recounting that day.
Hope one day, i too will live to see such an occasion !! But when?
Love reading your posts. Great stuff !

"Poor Windies"
I have been a loyal cricket fan over the years. I have supported a few teams well also, Windies, Sri Lanka England to name a few but today i am writing with a sense of shame. I dont see why Marlon Samuels is not on the current tour to England. His indiscipline cannot be worst than other players on the Windies side or otherwise and they still can play. Call me a fool or whatever you want - I still could do with Brian Charles Lara a couple more years and Marlon Samuels is always handy to me on the team. But since other people feel otherwise then i wish the team all the best and i will continue to be a loyal fan but my heart pains me when i see what is happening with the current side. Did we pick the best team for the tour of England?

I am really excited to read these past glory moments of Indian cricket, It really makes me proud as 1983 was the year I was born in so I have something great to corelate to.....feels awesome thanks for those inputs by you all.

The career stats of the 1983 team that PLAYED in the final, with the exception of Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, and Kirmani, is not very different from the pre 1996 Sri Lanka Team, or the projected stats of this generation of Bangladesh team 5 years from now. Of the three names mentioned, Gavaskar's main contribution in the tournament was the catches he took. Kapil Dev played a blinder of an innings against Zimbabwe and that was most of what he did, except a 5/43 against Australia when they scored 320, and Viv Richards' catch in the final. Kirmani, the least famous of the trio, was involved in the most important partnership of the match : 22 runs for the last wicket. The team won because of far more "significant" contributions from far less "significant" players. Yes, Mohinder Amarnath, so talked about lately, has actually played less one day internationals in his entire career than Habibul Bashar or even 22 year old Mohammed Ashraful. It wasn't for anything that Indian selectors were called jokers. The rest of the team too, had no stalwarts or "legends". In fact, one would be hard pressed to recall the names of some of those who played in that final off hand. Who can tell how many endorsements did Yashpal Sharma ever have? Or, how many one day internationals did Balwinder Sandhu play AFTER that final? The answer to the first question is zero, the second is, just 8. Yet the first named, Yashpal Sharma, was the guy who got India into the finals with a swashbuckling 61, which included an incredible flicked six off Willis. Remember, those were the days when there was a difference between a cricket bat and a mace. Sixers of square cuts, a la Sehwag and much less of a flick, were unheard of. On the other hand, Sandhu had bowled the most famous delivery in cricket to Greenidge before Shane Warne bowled Mike Gatting. Yes, 1983, ushered in the "star era". By the time Chetan Sharma bowled the full toss in the last ball of the Australasia Cup final in Sharjah, 1986, the "empire of stars" was complete. India has not won a tournament (the champions trophy final was never played) consisting of more than five nations since then, but has produced more "stars" than ever before.

Interesting to find out whether there was betting in those days in England??? Call me cynical.

The game is corrupted even more now.

I can only imagine what it would be like to be witness to a WC victory. People of me generation who were born later (Well, I was 2 at the time so it doesn't really count) can only hope that we can savor such a moment at least once in our lifetimes. It would be a story to tell ... and possibly Blog at some point. :) Thanks for a good read.

You couldn't have watched Kapil catching Richards live (sounds weird) on Doordarshan ..... DD broke between 19.30-19.45 with a round up of the news.

Hey Souvik, very well put!

Good article. The 1983 WC win and the links of Indian triumphs overseas and the advent of color television and also the integration of Doordarshan telecasting are all the reasons for india becoming the golden goose in terms of audience and thus becoming the commercial hub of world cricket with revenues through advertising.

That exactly led to the current players being spoiled with too much money and losing focus on cricket. money brings ego and when ego comes in to one's life, then it is hard to stay sane.

Lets hope I am wrong and our cricketers are sane and concentrate on cricket more than their endorsements and play to win.

We just don't see the fighting spirit in our team anymore. The attacks on cricketers' homes will not happen if they give the impression of fighting for a win and trying hard. If that is the case. It is the recklessness and lack of thinking that riles up the spectator.

Gulu, Bings, now that you've both pointed out that the telecast was interrupted on account of satellite failure and the news, I'm beginning to wonder if I saw the match in the sequence in which I put it down! One of the dangers of nostalgia is anecdotage.

Hey Gulu and Bings, you guys are spot on with the facts but way off on the nostalgia. Yes, Mukul does not remember watching all of that live, but he does remember the spanking that Richards was giving us because of the highlights package during tea. Yes, that was another aspect of one dayers back then. Teams would break for lunch and tea in the middle of an innings. It was a strange world. Actually if you got to 240 in 60 overs, you were considered to have a 90% chance of victory. No team had ever chased 300 successfully in 60 overs. 3.5 an over in 60 overs was a very competitive total and an asking rate of 5 in the last 15 overs was a difficult task! I wonder if women's cricket right now is at a similar stage! No disrespect to them of course.

Mukul - Thanks for rekindling the memories of 24 years ago. What the '83 team didnt have was STARS. They were GIANT KILLERS as a whole, more like a New Zealand team with bits and pieces cricketers.

How we wish this current team was bereft of STARS and had some performers

I envy Mr. Kesavan, who is able to savour the memories of the '83 triumph. My dad took me along to watch the final on one of the 4 TV sets in our township. But I do have memories, albeit not vivid, of the WC victory. I watched it at home. Here is offering a toast to the hope of a younger generation recapitulating 25-odd years later of how India won the cup in 2011 under Karthik's captaincy and Yuvi was the Man of the Finals

1983: There was no coverage till semis when india played england.
I heard the commentary of Kapil's innings vs zim on radio. so worried at 17 for 5 it was thrilling especially when Kapil hit six sixers from 100 to 175*.
In semis amarnath and yashpal were so slow that we were getting tense. But their tactics worked as all of a sudden they opened up and yashpal hit two beautiful sixes. This was followed by S Patil who smashed willis for many boundaries and was 50 in even number of balls.
Even in finals there were many interruptions during second innings for broadcast of regional , national news etc. we were so annoyed but listening to radio. by the time they resumed the telecast of the macth the score was 78 for 6!

1985: again there was no live coverage till the india v aust macth in group stage followed by vs Nz and finals Vs pak. we used to wake up (in an engg college hostel then) at 4-5 am to watch those matches in colored clothing. remember kapil and Binny inivariable used to push the opposition to something like 5 for 30 runs and they used to get bundled out for 150+. Srikkanth started hitting over infiled his own and shastri used to hold one end!

souvik:
India did win a couple fo tournaments under azhar where more than 5 teams participated.
I think they were nehru and wiilis Cups if I remeber right.

ravi from oz: i donno if u r referring to match fixing. but betting yes was there in 1983 and was legal in UK.
I know one fact that an indian living in London(a true ptriot) bet some amount on india winning before the tournament started. The amount was either 100 or 1000 pounds.
the odds were 1:500. That person won more amount than was paid to indain team for winning the cup!

Mukul,

Did you really see Kapil catching Richards live? 'Cos what I remember is stupid DD cutting us off for a news bulletin and showing that catch as part of the news...
I was only 9 yrs old then but this is the way I remember it....

Crap! Some people have already pointed that out it seems....

Anyway, I remember my dad distributing Cadbury's Milk Chocolate (the thin ones) to our neighbours after we won!
Also remember that we had a TV from the 70s (I think it was called valve or vacuum tube named Remco) that was in dying stages and could be easily woken up by a nice slap to its posterior. We gave up during the break and decided to watch it on a Sony Color TV that my neighbours had and colour did the trick for us - yeah!

Any of you had similar vacuum tube TVs?

avm: The only major tournament won by India under Azhar was the Hero Cup in 1993 which was the diamond jubilee celebration year of CAB. There were EXACTLY 5, and not more than 5 teams there: India, WI, SA, ZIM, and Sri Lanka. With the exception of South Africa, none of the others had made it to the semi finals of the World Cup held the previous year. And South Africa, as a team back then, were certainly formidable in non subcontinent conditions but certainly a much diminished (albeit competitive) team in the sub continent. So, it was hardly a "world class" tournament and certainly did not include MORE than 5 teams.
As regards Nehru Cup, that had more than 5 teams but India did not WIN it! Srikkanth, not Azhar was the captain for that tournament. It was actually one of the earliest tournaments where allegations of players tanking and match fixing with an underworld nexus outside Sharjah had surfaced quite conspicuously. It had started with Ravi Shastri having this strange urge to hit successive sixes of Viv Richards when the asking rate was around 5 in the last ten overs and India had 4 or 5 wickets in hand. They lost that semi final and that was that. Regarding Wills cup, there have been several tournaments by that name, but only one that featured MORE than 5 teams : the world cup in 1987! India certainly did not win that!

I became nostalgic when I read Mukul's well-written piece on the 1983 WC victory. The entire team really rallied around Kapil in 1983. Especially Srikanth, Amarnath,Sandip Patil and Kapil himself were outstanding. However I am sorry to say that in my view the Indian victory in the finals was still something of a fluke . In fact to prove this after the WC final, West Indies visited India and thrashed us badly 5-0( similar to India's revenge victory against Bangla recently). I feel that Team India Ganguly had a far superior record in ODI's in terms of consistency. Although India could not win the WC under SG, it still reached the finals of atleast 8-9 successive tournaments over 2-3 years . This included ICC final at Nairobi and Sri Lanka(Finals got rained away, but Team India beat the other finalist SL in the round-robin stage),Natwest Series in England and of course the memorable WC finals in 2003. To me consistency is the hallmark of a champion team. So objectively speaking I will rate the 2003 Team India under Ganguly over Kapil's Devils.

Pushpak, 1983 was no FLUKE! As Gavaskar maintained after winning the Benson and Hedges Trophy in 1985, which had all the teams that played in the 83 world cup except Zimbabwe, that if "India's victory in the world cup was a fluke, then this is certainly a sequel. You had Jaws I and Jaws II, while we have Fluke I and Fluke II."
It is a combination of white propaganda and to a certain extent, an Indian mindset that cannot appreciate something for what it is or was, without bringing something else down.
The truth is, India WAS the dominating one day team in the world then, and also one of the BETTER test teams. True they lost to Windies badly. But followed it up with a triumph in the Asia Cup, next was the win in the Rothmans Trophy in Sharjah when India bowled Pakistan out for 87 after being 125 all out! Not very different from bowling the opposition out for 140 after being all out for 183, is it? There is a pattern here. It was no FLUKE. AVM in an earlier post has described exactly how dominant India was in Australia in the 1985 tournament. In fact, India, for the first time ever, wore the favourites' tag to the world cup in 1987 (the Reliance Cup and not Wills' cup as I had mentioned earlier. The Wills' Cup was in 1996). And, they looked every bit as the favorites: After the one run defeat in the first match against Australia, they won the next five effortlessly, before crashing out inexplicably against England in the semis. Those performances were by a team that KNEW how to dominate, not unlikely minnows pulling off upset wins.
In the test match arena, they beat England 2-0 in England in 1986. They dominated all three drawn tests against Australia in Australia in 1985 and would have won at least two of those if not for rain and biased umpiring. India was a force to be reckoned with back then. It was a cricketing power in its own right. Don't diminish those victories by calling them flukes.

Nice piece - though none of us realized at the time the phenomenal impact the miracle of '83 would have on Indian and world cricket. I too remember having to tune into BBC on a beat-up transistor radio with shortwave for the commentary as DD did its usual nonsense with news and powercuts - at least we didn't have that bizarre thing called "The news read at slow-speed" that AIR used to specialize in (for whom was that? people slow on the uptake or what??). The turning point, of course, was "The Catch" (as it should be called from here on in) that Kapil took. A swirling, spinning red cherry caught running away from the wicket, towards the stands, looking over his shoulder at exactly the right moment and hauling it in with both hands. It was Kapil at his best - pure athleticism, mixed with eerie calm and all this on the world's premier stage, a sun-dappled Lords. With that went Richards the Mighty and suddenly we all dreamt the impossible. A few weeks later, I was brought down to earth, however. I left India for higher studies in the US, and my flight was via London. From Heathrow, a young Englishman was in the seat next to me, and as coincidence would have it, was headed for the same University in upstate New York as myself. We got talking and soon enough, I got ready to brag about the World Cup and India's stunning upset. He looked at me strangely and said, "Cricket?! Sorry mate, my game's footy - didn't know you guys even had a World Cup for cricket. How many months does it last - heh, heh". The thrill of rubbing a Pom's nose in it evaporated right there as I realized he wasn't kidding. Anyway, I reckon (as in field hockey), our chances of winning another world cup are pretty remote, so pieces like Mukul's are one way of reliving the past and appreciating it even more.

Mukul,thanks for rekindling those glory days.In SriLanka there was no live coverage and we had to depend on BBC commentaries.The whole hostel numbering more than a hundred barring a few of my friends were rooting for the Windies and when India won just past mid-night I remember, I was so thrilled and stayed awake for more than two hours.I was grinning from ear to ear the following morning.The feeling has never been paralleled in life.

Souvik, Truth always hurts. Actually I am myself a big fan of Indian team in that era. I also know that the team in eighties accomplished many great things without having the facilities that present Team India has at its disposal(coach,physio,computer analyst). However this does not change facts. I still will rate the WC 1983 as a fluke or match-fixing. No other world cup champion has lost 5-0 to the runner-up within a couple of few months like India did in 1983. Unfortunately, I personally watched India's dismal show against West Indies in the ODI series that followed the WC 1983.

Mellany Gilzene- I am also a fan of the West Indies, and they most certainly did not pick the best team. Marlon Samuels would certainly be a better bet than, say, Sylvester Joseph, and the fact that the selectors didn't take either Dave Mohamed (a spinner)or Pedro Collins (a left-armer) is farcical. And now that they've got their current squad, they only play three proper bowlers in the team! What a joke.

pushpak: please don't call the WC victory as fluke. India could beat WI in england twice because their swing bowling options were helped by english conditions whereas on indian batting pitches WI were too strong for our bowling(except the gr8 Kapil). Infact India was the only team to beat WI twice in WC?
We did not play well in WC 07 that does not mean BD won by fluke. They also beat SA who were the no.1 ramked side in the world!
I certainly enjpoyed the cricket played by India during 83-87 as also the team under azhar (post 92 WC). azahr, sachin, ganguly, jadeja used to play some gr8 knocks.
Reg Ganguly regime they can only come after the above two teams as they never won any cup/series involving 3 or more teams. when the third team is usually a zimbabwe, kenya it is no wonder we would reach finals anyway. It used to hurt when we used to lose every final once to NZ once to SL etc....... The team under SG had all facilities and also had talnet but for some unknnown reasons never crossed the final hurdle.

At the age of 4, i had very little clue of what happened that day at Lord's. Knowing my family i am sure i must have missed a meal. I struggle to imagine what it would have felt like. Actually its always difficult to imagine what one of the best days of your life would feel like. The closest i came to having that feeling was that amazing 1996 evening when India beat Paksitan at Banglore, it felt as if Delhi had been shaken out of its torpor by a gush adrenaline through its streets, unmatched stuff in my book, till then and now. I hope one day i get to feel and see what World Cup glory is all about. Till then i am more than happy reading such articles on 1983.

best article i ever read in cricinfo.....ever.

AVM, Azhar failed to win a single test overseas in his 10 year captaincy. All the ODI victories you mentioned were at home on slow turning pitches which Kumble exploited. Question is should we have high opinion of a team that can only win at home on spinning wickets but fails miserably in all other countries(e.g Azhar lost 0-4 against Australia in tests). Also you were factually incorrect on SG's ODI captaincy record. India actually won a memorable Natwest series at Lords(2002) under Ganguly. In this tournament there were 3 teams (Eng,SL and Ind).India was also the joint champion of the ICC cup under Ganguly in 2002(8 teams participated). I agree Team India could have won more finals in other tournaments but I atleast felt happy that the team under Ganguly/Wright was consistent and considered the no.2 team (after Australia) for a couple of years. In contrast now our team gets eliminated in first round of ICC Cup and World cup. Of course that is also a consistent performance to some fans!

Pushpak, get out of that negative self bashing mindset: Truth hurts!!! Dude you are incapable of appreciating greatnesss it seems. Tell me something! Do you know who won the World Cup in 1975? Your heartthrob darling Windies. Do you know who were the runners up? It was Australia. Do you know what happened when West Indies went to Australia next year? They lost 5 - 1. Does that mean West Indies won in 1975 by fluke? Get a life man.

Souvik , I dont want to waste my precious life arguing with you on this.... If you want to imagine that Indian ODI team was superior to WI,Aus or Pak in early eighties, please suit yourself. What matters ultimately to me , is that our 1983 team won a match when it really mattered. Mukul needs to be complimented for reviving those great memories with a well-written blog !

Mukul, wonderful article again. Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up!!! I was just 2 when we won the WC, so obviously have no memory of it. I have though watched the videos on numerous occasions!! Kapil's catch was like something from another planet. If only we could have a team like that today. They may not have been the most talented but they played with so much passion and heart. A team is so much more than the sum of its parts.
The one Indian victory I remember best for the way the country (well at least Delhi) celebrated was when Ind beat Pak in the WC in South Africa. I remember watching the match at NSCI in Delhi and watching Sachin wade into that attack was sincillating. And then we went to CP to celebrate and have never seen sights like that. CP was packed with people partying, hugging each other, dancing. It felt like everyone had come together. God knows when our team will come together again. Hopefully soon.

mr.souvik is incorrect that india has not won any tournament after 1986 when it had more than 3 teams,,we won hero cup(tendukar saved us from defeat against south africa bowling that famous last over)winning final against west indies

Mukul,

Quite a few have already pointed out that none of us actually 'saw' Viv richard's getting out - or Des haynes, Lloyd etc. for that matter...

But it brings me to another point of how nostalgia repeated again and again makes us us 'imagine' that we have seen things we haven't. e.g. I read excerpts from a book by one Soumyo Bhattacharrya at a book shop the other day...he remebers vividly how Sushil Doshi and Dicky Rutnagur described India's famous Port of Spain win in 1976 and how he stayed up late sipping Bournvita as a kid to hear India win that game...he couldn't have 'stayed up' to hear that game, since the post tea session was recorded by AIR and played in the morning...and a teary Ravi Chaturvedi and Suresh Saraiya (he mixed up the commentator's with the chaps in the next overseas tour to Australia) were the voices.... Even I sometimes think I 'remember' Kumble's 10 wickets at Kotla - actually what i remember are the TV images..at the ground each wicket was just a blur - at Kumble's pace and so many close-in fielders, it was difficult to tell if someone was bowled or stumped, lbw or caught bat-pad...

Guys, Agreed India had its glory days of cricket. But, the India of today is a shadow of the 83 team. They have choked to Australia during the last world cup and this world cup is nothing to talk about. However great a sportsman is, if he does not have the ability to perform on the big stage, he cannot stake his claim. Agreed, Tendulkar's records and Dravid's statistics along with Ganguly's flamboyance are way higher than Sandeep Patil's strokeplay or Srikanth's magnificent shots. The key is these men of the 80's played when it mattered most.

I saw the recent world cup in the carribean and the way the Sri Lankans crumpled against the Aussies showed that weaker teams have been traditionally humbled by strong oppositions. Not many David's would have it in them to stand up to the Goliath's of the world. But, India did. India survived. India arrived. India arrived in style.
They played when it mattered most.

Hats off to the golden boys of Indian cricket. I personally dont go for records. I go for attitude and the ability to handle the Big Game. No one can question the attitude of Kapil Dev or Krish Srikanth. They were thrillers and pure adrenalin flowed thru me when as a kid i used to see them play on my Nelco color TV. But, when the Tendulkars and Dravid's play against today's big boys, they only seem to scamper along and survive. They dont compare to the oldies in any way shape or form.

We need bold and aggressive players not concerned with retaining their place in the team or breaking records.

Let the new generation take inspiration from the golden moments and bring some glory back to Indian cricket. They need not have the highest no of runs in International cricket. All they need is the heart of a tiger !

Go team India!

Prakash is correct in recalling the 1976 victory in Port-od-Spain.It was recorded and I heard it long after the match was over.Infact the suspense got too much and I grabbed the morning papaer when it came (the Times of India)and scoured it to see if they had the result and voila....there it was in a box.India beat WI.I then cheerfully heard the rest of the commentary,Brijesh Patel flaying the bowling.Also in Mumbai,the SSC exams were on then,if old mumbaikars remember.

1983 WC was a FLUKE. It was like Bangla desh beating Australia or India. A Kenya win over WI or a Ireland victory over Pak. When WI came over and walloped us 5-0 in India it said it all. Even today we cannoy beat WI ,the latest series in WI is a proof.

It was a great day for us in 1983. It was a great effort by all our alrounders- Kapil,Binny, Madanlal, Jimmy and Kirti. Infact, if you remember it is Jimmy and Kirti who used to control runs during middle overs and if you can see the stats then you will find Jimmy and Kirti used to give very little runs during their 12 over each. That was the last world cup, where each game was of 60 overs. There was another factor in 1983 victory is that of exceptional fielding by Krish, Yashpal and Binny who used to take the ball and run to the stumps. Since then we have never seen that kind of aggresive fielding. Next comes the majic spell of Ravi Sashtri in the first game against WI. When they are hammaring our bowlers Gavaskar told Kapil to use Ravi and the resulst was immediate.
We still remember that day when one Indian supporter was guiding Roberts to the pavilion after his dismisal. After the win Krish was smoking at the Lords pavilion and Sunil Valson(not played a single game in WC) was waving a tri clour and we wen wild distributing the Mithai and lighting the MASHAL.
We are lucky that Kapil devils were there and we enjoyed that kind of event in live over DD.I am afraid if I ever get a chance like that to go wild in joy.

It's really a great victory for Indian History which is repeated in 20-20 world-cup.