Following underwhelming performances in the previous two World Cups, the Indian team entered the 1983 World Cup as underdogs
India was placed alongside defending champion West Indies, Australia and Zimbabwe in the group stage
Kapil Dev’s men surprised many as they clinched 5 wins in 7 games to progress into the finals
In the final, India faced-off against the mighty West Indies, which it had already beaten once in the league stage
Sunil Gavaskar’s dismal run continued in the final as he became Andy Roberts’ first victim
K. Srikkanth threw the kitchen sink to recoup the Indian innings
Srikkanth’s one-knee square drive to grab a boundary off Roberts still remains iconic. The batter went on to top score for India with 38
Srikkanth and Mohinder Amarnath (26) steadied the ship for the Indian side
But Kapil’s men failed to withstand the powerful Caribbean bowling attack, as they collapsed from 90-2 to 130-7
Sandeep Patil repaired the damage with his 27 off 29
A 22-run last-wicket stand between Syed Kirmani and Balwinder Sandhu took India to 183
India got its first whiff of a win when Gordon Greenidge lost his off-stump to a magical in-swinging delivery from Sandhu
Caribbean King Viv Richards thrashed seven fours as he threatened to take the game away from India
But Richard’s flamboyant knock soon came to an end thanks to a brilliant running catch from Kapil Dev
Soon after Richard’s departure, India struck again with Roger Binny removing Windies captain Clive Lloyd for eight
The turn of events glued the Indian fans to their seats and TV screens as the Windies tottered at 119-7
Amaranth struck the last blow and trapped Michael Holding leg-before
Indian fans stormed into the ground to celebrate their team’s first World Cup victory
India announced itself on the world stage, setting the tone for a bright future