On Saturday, Indian cricket supporters remembered the momentous 1983 World Cup victory, the day that permanently altered the history of their country. The Indian team, led by Kapil Dev, defeated the two-time champion West Indies on this day in 1983, cementing its place in history. India triumphed at Lord’s, where Kapil became the country’s first captain to win the trophy in 39 years. At 24 years and 170 days, he was also the title’s youngest skipper.
Team India created history by winning the World Cup for the 1st time under the captaincy of Kapil Dev. A historic and memorable day for Indian cricket!” wrote one fan
We went to Lord’s for the final and again everyone said that India had done well but now we didn’t stand a chance,” Kapil told Wisden India.
“Everyone started saying that the West Indies were going to win it once again, for the third time. But I think we had something that no one knew about. There was something up our sleeve — it was self-confidence and self-belief,” he added.
The second-most significant batting performance in India’s ODI history up to that point (after Rohit Sharma’s world-record 264) was Kapil Dev’s unbeaten 175 off just 138 deliveries against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells (from 9 for 4, which quickly worsened to 17 for 5) He survived the pressure of wickets dropping all around him, revived the innings, and still ended up scoring at a rate that was significantly faster than the average for the game.
This ability to bowl tight spells and have a high Economy Impact—basically, give up runs at a lower rate than the match average—defines Kapil’s effectiveness with the ball throughout the tournament.
Kapil competed in 8 matches during the competition and never lost a game. He scored the fifth-most runs.Along with this, he was quick on the field, sprinting back to catch Viv Richards in what may have been the single most pivotal moment in Indian cricket history.
With Sandip Patil, Madan Lal – the best bowler of the tournament, Mohinder Amarnath , Yashpal Sharma, Roger Binny and others without a total team effort, India’s historic victory would not have been feasible.
