1983 World Cup Win: Kapil Dev's India stunned the World 40 years from now when they defeated the team of a generation West Indies not once, but twice to get their hands to the World Title. It came as the biggest sporting spectacle for India, who won just one match in their six games in the previous two editions and that came against East Africa. These 14 men along with manager PR Man Singh went on to be etched in history and the win gives goosebumps as to how an underdog went to raise their voices against the giants in cricket.
Here we look at five top moments from the historic win of the tournament.
1 - Yashpal Sharma shines in Taming down the World Champions Windies: What else can anyone expect from an underdog team to beat the Two-time World Champions and unbeaten West Indies? The Indian team faced the four big pace-battery of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner in the tournament opener.
They didn't make a good start with Kris Srikkanth, Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath falling to bring India to 76/3. But then came Yashpal Sharma, who took the attack to the deadly bowling unit. He made 89 off 120 balls in the first game to set a fightable target of 262 against the Windies.
2 - Kapil Dev's insane effort of 175: After winning two matches and losing the next two, India were in a tricky position in the tournament. They faced Zimbabwe in their fifth game and a loss could have ousted them from the tournament. Moreover, they were slapped hard with four wickets falling for just 9 on the board. A loss was looming large. But in came the Indian skipper Kapil Dev with a performance of the ages. On a challenging Tunbridge Wells surface, Kapil shattered the World record of the highest individual score in ODI cricket when he smashed 175 from 146 balls.
Kapil had crucial with Roger Binny (60 runs), Madan Lal (62 runs) and Syed Kirmani (unbeaten 126) to put India to a fightable 266 and win the match by 31 runs.
3 - Roger Binny and Madan Lal's magic hands vs Australia: In the final league stage game of the tournament, India needed a win against the giants Australia to qualify for the semifinals. Kapil's team posted 247 on the board with contributions from numerous batters. But it all came down to defending the target against the Aussies, who earlier thrashed India in the league stage game.
Binny ran through Australia's top order after Balvinder Sandhu provided with the first wicket. Binny took apart Graeme Wood, Grahan Yallop and David Hookes and then Tom Hogan later on. Meanwhile, Madan Lal was the destructor of the middle order and took four wickets too to help India win by 118 runs.
4 - Yashpal Sharma once again: Yashpal Sharma was once again the star for India in the semifinal with the bat against England. India were chasing 214 and a place in the semifinal at England's home but they downed them in some fashion. After the openers fell early, Yashpal held one end up and kept the scoreboard ticking.
He stitched crucial stands with Mohinder Amarnath and Sandeep Patil of 92 and 63 runs to take India home. This was India's first ODI win against England at their home.
5 - Kapil's special catch, coupled with key contributions to become champions: In the end, India still had a mountainous task in front of the mighty West Indies and the latter were favourites to win the title. But the Indians had other thoughts. There were some notable performances in the finale starting with Kris Srikkanth's 38 from 57 which was the top score of the final.
In the defence, it was some spectacular efforts from Kapil Dev, Madan Lal and Amarnath to send India to a famous win. The Windies had the lowest total of 228 in the tournament and defending that was in itself a huge task. Viv Richards was playing like a walk in the park and was taking Windies to a famous win. But Kapil Dev took a catch running back from the 30-yard circle on Madan Lal's ball to down the biggest threat of India. It was indeed the World Cup that was in the air.
However, Amarnath then came in the latter stage to scalp wickets when Windies were building partnerships. He was awarded the player of the match in the semifinal and the final too. India were honourd with the World Cup trophy.
