Never expected to be world champions in 1983, says Kris Srikkanth

The 1983 World Cup was only the third edition of the quadrennial event and the Kapil Dev-led team went on to win the trophy despite no one giving them a chance, not even the players themselves. Kris Srikkanth has stated that his flight itself was for New York with a stopover at London.

"When we left the shores of India in 1983 we never expected to be world champions. In fact, my flight was from Bombay to New York with just a stopover in London for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. That was because in the first two World Cups the only team we had beaten was East Africa, we even lost to Sri Lanka who were not yet a Test team,” he said, reported ICC Media.

The Indian side had defeated West Indies, the most dominant side back in the era, in their very first game of the World Cup. India scored 262 in 60 overs while the defending champions were bowled out for 228 in 54.1 overs, with Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri scalping three wickets each. The former batsman felt that the skipper was crazy expecting to win against West Indies but gold self-belief after the victory.

"It all started with the first game against the West Indies. We had toured there just before the tournament and won a game in Berbice in Guyana. Before the tournament opener he (Kapil) said to us, if we can beat them once, why not again? We thought he was crazy but his self-belief got us thinking maybe it was true. We went out and beat them quite comfortably and suddenly thought to ourselves, we can do this," expressed the 59-year-old.

India also won the next game against Zimbabwe while they lost to Australia and West Indies. However, the semi-finals against Zimbabwe was the turning point and the audience even witnessed what was one of the greatest ODI innings. Both the openers got out for a duck while the next three batsmen scored 15 runs in total. Next came Kapil and he blasted 175 runs off 138 balls laced with 16 fours and six sixes, where even a single maximum was a rarity in most matches. Srikkanth went on to narrate the historical innings.

“It was a green top and batting first, Sunil Gavaskar got a duck, I got a duck, and before we knew it we were 17/5. We were so ashamed but Kapil Dev went out there and rather than play defensively he played his shots," said the right-hander, who played in 43 Tests and 146 ODIs between 1981 and 1992. 

"My wife had come down and once he started scoring we stood just outside the players enclosure in the cold. Everyone was so superstitious that we could not move, but I just watched with awe as he hit 175. It was an amazing innings,” he added.

In the final league stage match, India sent Australia packing for 129 runs, with Roger Binny and Madan Lal each returning four wickets each. In the semi-finals against England, part-timer Mohinder Amarnath dismissed David Gower and Mike Gatting, restricting the side to 213 which was chased down quite easily.

In the finals, India could only set a target of 184 which initially seemed like a cake walk for the mighty West Indies. However, the openers got out cheaply and the mantle was on the legendary Viv Richards and skipper Clive Lloyd. Madan Lal dismissed Richards and ended up with three wickets, sending West Indies packing for 140. History was written and Indian cricket was transformed, as pointed out by Srikkanth.

"In the final (against West Indies), I'll never forget Joel Garner's spell. The ball was coming down from ten feet in the dew. I really struggled but I spoke to Jimmy (Amarnath) and he told me to play my natural game. The next over I slashed one for four and in the end I got 38, which turned out to be the highest score of the World Cup final. We only got 183, and even Kapil Dev did not tell us that it would be enough. But he said that we should make it as difficult as possible for the West Indies. Once again it came down to him. He caught Viv Richards and although they kept fighting, we won,” he said.

"That was the day Indian cricket changed. For every Indian in the world, we could walk down the street thinking 'we're world champions',” signed off Srikkanth.

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