India’s limited-overs cricket received a shot in the arm when the team, dubbed ‘Kapil’s Devils’, marched to a sensational World Cup triumph at Lord’s in 1983. It set off a belief among the other teams that they, too, can dream of winning cricket’s showpiece event.
In a chat two years ago, Syed Kirmani, member of the 1983 squad, looked back at the memorable World Cup campaign.
What was Kapil Dev’s message when India set out to defend 183?
Jawano (soldiers), let’s put our best foot forward... Midway through, when Viv Richards came in, the way he started off, we felt he would chase down the total within 20 overs. But as soon as he got out, we felt we had the upper hand. And the West Indians simply crumbled after that: (Clive) Lloyd, (Jeffrey) Dujon, and (Malcolm) Marshall all got out in quick succession; it was just (Andy) Roberts and (Michael) Holding trying to hold the fort, and that’s it.
READ | 1983 Cricket World Cup Special, Prudential World Cup
What was the turning point of the campaign?
The first turning point of the tournament was the opening encounter against World Champion West Indies. They ruled cricket for more than two decades. Going into the game, we had nothing to lose since we were the fourth weakest team in the tournament after Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, and East Africa. But we beat them (West Indies) very convincingly. And while we were sitting in the dressing room—I can recall this very well—after the match (against the West Indies), one of our teammates screamed his lungs out from the washroom in absolute ecstasy, “Hey, we’ve beaten the World Champions, man!” I think the majority of us inside the dressing room then went into a chorus. I can’t recall who all was there, but that win gave us the confidence to surge forward.
How would you describe Kapil’s captaincy?
There were seven players senior to Kapil Dev on the team. In our very first team meeting, it was the greatness of Kapil to have said, ‘Gentlemen, I’m lucky to have seven experienced players by my side, and I don’t have to tell you what your responsibilities are, you’re going to guide me.’ For a captain to say such a thing with seniors around him, I take that as a big compliment.
You were at the non-striker’s end during Kapil’s iconic knock of 175. What do you remember from that day?
We were 17 for five. The conditions at Tunbridge Wells were not very well read (laughs)—no team would’ve batted first after winning the toss, but Kapil did just that. Normally, I never got to bat in limited-overs cricket. So, I was relaxing with my towel on after the warm-ups. I had a toast in one hand and was about to go in for a nice shower. Suddenly I heard someone screaming, ‘Hey Kiri, pad up’! I obviously took that as a joke. Nevertheless, minutes later, there was another shout, “Kiri, what are you doing, man? Put your gear on! At that point, I thought there was something wrong somewhere, so I peered through the window to look at the scoreboard, and I saw 17/5. My towel dropped! (laughs). By the time I went in to bat, we were reeling at 140 for eight. I told Kapil, ‘Maar k Marna hai apne ko’.
The plan was for me to take a single off the first ball and let Kapil retain strike for the remaining deliveries. From thereon, what followed was absolute carnage. I’ve never seen such a devastating inning in that situation from any batsman of my era. Kapil either smacked a four or a six. Kapil ended up hitting 16 boundaries and six sixes. India had beaten Zimbabwe by 31 runs.
And what was the reaction of your teammates in the dugout?
The entire team was outside watching our partnership build. (Balwinder) Sandhu was shivering in his pants. Team manager P.R. Man Singh was watching the proceedings with all those who had gotten out before us. The manager had apparently instructed the players to stay put in their respective positions; no one moved an inch. (Kris) Srikkanth, who was training, wanted to use the loo urgently, but Man (Singh) asked him to do it there itself! The superstitions went to that extent.
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