Bangalore: Thirty years ago, a team of no-hoppers led by a player who evoked sniggers from elitist cricket fans every time he spoke in English, created history. They overcame hot favorites West Indies to lift the final edition of the Prudential World Cup played for top honors in the short format of the game.
The victory, achieved in true David vs Goliath style, was celebrated across the country for more than a couple of months as the players travelled from city-to-city with political leaders of every hue patiently waiting for a photo-op that would eventually get framed and end up on their living room wall.
Cup that changed the face of Indian cricket
What actually transpired on that balmy Saturday afternoon of a pleasantly warm English summer was something no Indian could have even dreamt of, leave alone predicted without actually being labelled 'crazy in the head'.
Anticipation levels were high, especially after the ease with which the Indians led by Kapil Dev, demolished a much stronger English team led by Bob Willis. Having restricted a cocky England (who were preparing for the finals as they didn't believe India stood a chance) to 213 runs off 60 overs, the Indians got there with nearly five overs to spare, thanks to a blistering 51 (32 balls) by current chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil, an out-of-character 61 (115 balls) by Yashpal Sharma and a typically doughty 46 (92 balls) by man-of-the-series Mohinder Amarnath.
A few of my friends gathered at the house of another pal who had bought a color television to watch the Asian Games a year ago (the first time Indian television saw color). Kapil Dev won the toss and out walked Sunny Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
Remember, those were the days when live coverage of a cricket match was a privilege and watching it on a color television was a 'dream come true' for middle class fans. And there was no social media (Twitter) to track the comments. In fact, there was Internet and the web to us meant stuff that spiders spun in the hope of netting some food.
My friend's (Mintoo) mother kept us supplied with snacks while his father regaled us with his own comments that was often better than what we got on television (nothing's changed!). However, things went horribly wrong early on as Gavaskar was caught behind by Jeff Dujon off Andy Roberts. What happened thereafter was the usual procession that cricket fans of the 1980s had gotten used to. Barring a few minor fireworks from Srikkanth (his hook off Malcolm Marshall was a gem), the Indians barely managed to stand up to the West Indian pacers and folded up for 183!
It was quite a coincidence that the Indian innings folded up on the fourth ball of the 54th over... exactly at the same juncture that they'd won the previous game against England. Had it occurred today, I am sure Twitter would've been abuzz with funny one-liners!
Suffice to say that at the innings break, most of the friends dispersed. What's the point of watching India being mauled once again by the formidable West Indians yet again? The statisticians amongst us began recounting the instances where a team chasing such a low total had lost. Those of us who believed in cricket's glorious uncertainties felt isolated and heavy at heart.
I decided that enough was enough and trudged back home, hoping to imagine the next day's headlines in the newspapers. 'Sorry Indians Hand Windies a Third World Cup Triumph' came to mind straightaway.
It took a great deal of courage to switch on the television once again when the West Indies opening pair of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes came out to bat. Then better sense prevailed as I thought of Kapil Dev. Would he concede the match because he's afraid of a Caribbean fireworks display?
What luck! It took the Indians only few minutes to show that all wasn't lost. From out of nowhere, Balwinder Singh Sandhu produced a peach of a delivery that made the mighty Greenidge look foolish, stupid and awestruck all at once. The ball merely held its line from outside the off stump and clipped the off bail as the batsman was busy doing the 'well-left' pose!
And at precisely this juncture, Doordarshan did us all a great service by switching over to the pre-scheduled program that included a couple of news bulletins and some other stuff that one can hardly recall now. We switched over to radio and heard Sir Issac Vivian Alexander Richards bludgeoning the bowlers led by Kapil Dev, Roger Binny and Madan Lal.
I switched off the commentary and went back to watching television news, because Richards seemed in a hurry to put things in perspective. How could a bunch of bowlers whose fastest delivery was only a shade quicker than their part-time spinner even aspire to unsettle the sheer brutality of West Indian batting?
Suddenly, our apartment complex in Delhi reverberated with a few shouts and claps, leading me to switch the radio back on. Yes! Vivian Richards had been caught by Kapil Dev off Madan Lal and the West Indies still required over 130 runs. The run-rate wasn't in the equation as the West Indians had close to 40 overs to achieve the target.
For once, Doordarshan came back on earlier than scheduled (some mandarin in Mandi House probably realized that they were on to something) and an entire nation saw a rag-tag outfit of our bowlers (Mohinder Amarnath and Kirti Azad) slowly but surely dismantling the West Indians, brick by brick.
Three decades after the event, I still recall some momentous moments from that finals. The top five scenes that come to mind thirty years to the day are:
Mohinder Amarnath running towards the batsman's end trying to pick up a stump as souvenir and failing to do so even as umpire Dicky Bird picked up one to chase away swarming fans who ran to the center of the pitch.
Sunny Gavaskar, who was permanently stationed at first slip by Kapil Dev, and appeared to be almost oblivious of what his mates were doing in the field, suddenly brought the game to life with a sharp catch to dismiss Malcolm Marshall. The fast bowler had steadied the ship with Dujon, taking the score from 6-76 to 119 runs and raising hopes for the West Indians.
Jeff Dujon's last minute decision to shoulder arms to a delivery from Mohinder Amarnath that was pitching outside off and holding its line resulting in an inside edge into the stumps. So agitated was the keeper-batsman that he furiously slapped the ground in the knowledge that a third Prudential Trophy had slipped away from his team.
The sight of captain Clive Lloyd walking in looking distinctly uneasy, having suffered a hamstring strain during the Indian innings. continued to make Indian fans feel pensive as the burly left-hander was quite a handful even on one leg. The glee with which Kapil Dev pocketed a catch from Lloyd off Binny was arguably more infectious than his catch to dismiss Richards.
The arrogant shake-of-the-head that greeted bowler Malcolm Marshall who bowled a bouncer and hit tailender Balwinder Singh Sandhu's helmet truly epitomised the Indian's spirit in that particular tournament. Of course, two decades down the line Syed Kirmani who was batting with Sandhu then, said: "Ballu didn't realize as there was only vacuum under the helmet".
The one non-cricketing scene that I carry with me till date is that of Krishnamachari Srikkanth puffing away on a cigarette from the hallowed balcony at the Lord's! Thankfully for him, the anti-smoking lobby wasn't as strong then or one would've seen a clamour for his head!