Gavaskar to host gala dinner for Kapil’s Devils

It remains the seminal moment in Indian cricket. In 1983, Kapil’s Devils stormed their way to the unlikeliest of World Cup wins at the starchy headquarters of the game - Lord’s. Beginning the tournament as 66-to-one outsiders, they went on to upset the two-time defending champions West Indies in a fairytale final. On the 25th anniversary of the epoch-making win, PR Man Singh, the manager of the victorious team, relives the journey to glory in this exclusive column for Sify.com.
India had only played six matches in the first two editions of the World Cup in 1975 and 1979 and won only one match, that too against East Africa.
Our early unwillingness to take the ODIs seriously is evident from the fact that in the opening game of the 1975 edition between England and India at Lord’s, Sunil Gavaskar batted through the entire 60 overs, scoring 36 and remaining unbeaten.
In 1979, we even lost to Sri Lanka, who had not attained Test status then.
This early lack of interest in the ODIs became evident to me on yet another occasion too: the tour of Pakistan in 1978, when I was the assistant manager of the Indian team.
Pakistan had already adapted to the shorter version of the game, and in the tour itinerary, they included three ODIs. Our Board accepted this with reluctance, but when Pakistan undertook a reciprocal tour in 1979-80, the Indian authorities did not bother to fit in even a single ODI.
Such being the backdrop, the BCCI was under no pressure ahead of the 1983 World Cup. Preparation for the Cup was a low-key affair, as if it were a formality that had to be gone through. As a Test-playing nation, which had been invited, we had to fulfil the obligation. No importance was being given to the tour.
After the selection of the squad, I, for one, felt that this Indian team had the potential to reach the semis. But it never crossed my mind that we could get into the final, let alone win the Cup.
The reason I felt the team could make it to the semis was because of the bits-and-pieces players we had. They were the ones best suited to ODIs.
Also, the number of overs was going to be 60 per innings, which would give batsmen like Sunil (Gavaskar) the opportunity to build an innings, while (Krishnamachari) Srikkanth could have a go at the other end. No doubt the West Indies were a strong side, and as the winners on the previous two occasions, the favourites. But we had just beaten them in Berbice (in the tour of the West Indies that preceded the World Cup) and I felt if we could beat them once, we could do it again.
Next