Mohinder Amarnath played the tournament of his life in 1983 by emerging the most important performer in the semifinal and final where he won the Man of the Match awards in both games. His all-round abilities gave India the option to innovate and Amarnath did not disappoint the captain. He talks of his experience.
What were the gains from the 1983 World Cup win?
The biggest gain was that our fans started believing in us. Earlier, we were seen as good enough to just participate and that impression changed after 1983.We were known to excel in patches but the 1983 win was based on solid consistency where we had more than one player having a big impact on the game. I think the win lifted the spirits of the nation as a whole and I was glad that we performed as a team. The victory changed the mindset of the team and we started winning more and more games, especially overseas. There was a wave of confidence that served Indian cricket in times to come.
Would you say it was more of a team effort?
Of course it was a collective performance. Individuals can’t perform always to swing matches. You have to play as a team. Some of us were in great touch but we were not all playing to our potential. We knew that but it was also true that we were in the final purely on merit after beating England by a convincing manner in the semifinal. I particularly relish that win since I could shine as a bowler too. In most matches we exploited the conditions when they favoured the bowlers. By winning the final we showed that we belonged to that platform.
Did it help to have so many all-rounders?
In the shorter format it is always better to play with four to five all-rounders, When I say all-rounders I mean quality all-rounders. You must play domestic cricket to hone your all-round skills and that is what I always did. The 1983 team had quality batsmen who could bowl and quality bowlers who could bat. Not the part time types. Syed Kirmani was a brilliant all-rounder in front of the wicket and behind too. Balvinder Sandhu could bat. Roger (Binny), Madan (Lal) and Kirti (Azad) were all-rounders. And Kapil Dev. We had a long batting line up.
What were your favourite moments?
Honestly, all winning moments were special. All wins were priceless, I won’t pick one particular moment. The first win (against the West Indies) was great. It triggered the journey.
Your lasting memories of that great triumph?
The whole tournament. From beating Australia, England and the West Indies in a row to standing on the balcony as world champions. We had worked hard to win the World Cup and set an example for the younger generation. I enjoyed the fact that we did the nation proud by proving the world wrong. Big things don’t happen overnight and we showed we could deliver by performing collectively.
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