June 25, 1983 – The sun was setting in the west at Lord’s Cricket Ground in England. The dim light of evening spreads over the ground. At the same time, the influence of a world champion was fading. That champion was the West Indies, who were shining in world cricket.
At that time, West Indies, who had won the previous two World Cups, were floundering against India, who were considered very weak, in the finals of the Cricket World Cup. Batting first, India scored 183 runs. West Indies collapsed for 140 runs in front of that score which seemed completely dry. A new champion has emerged in world cricket. England’s media called India Kapil’s Devils or Kapil’s Devils as they defeated the world champions under the leadership of Kapil Dev. It has been 40 years since that victory.
Who were Kapil’s devils?
The most senior players in the Indian team were Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath. Gavaskar was one of the best batsmen of that time. One-day cricket was not good enough for Gavaskar. Gavaskar’s performance in the 1983 World Cup was also poor. Total scored 59 runs.
Gavaskar’s highest score in 83 World Cups was 25 against England in the semi-final. But Gavaskar took two catches in the slips in the final which was crucial.
Mohinder Amarnath was India’s chief architect of victory in the 83 World Cup. Amarnath scored 237 runs in the tournament and took eight wickets for India. Apart from this, Amarnath also won the Man of the Match honors against England in the semi-final and West Indies in the final.
Another senior player in the tournament was Dilip Vengsarkar. However, Vengsarkar could not shine much in the 1983 World Cup. A total of two matches were played. In the second match against the West Indies, he was injured by Malcolm Marshall’s ball and did not play in the tournament.
Wicket keeper Saeed Kirmani was another senior player in the tournament. Kirmani was the faithful guard behind the wicket. In the crucial group match against Zimbabwe, he added an unbeaten 126 for the ninth wicket with captain Kapil Dev. It was Saeed Kirmani who dismissed West Indies’ Marshall and Garner by stumping in the group match against the West Indies, and in the final, he made a spectacular diving catch to dismiss West Indies’ Fouad Backus.
Another important successful architect of India is Yashpal Sharma. Yashpal is the only member of Kapil Dev’s team who has left this world. Yashpal Sharma was India’s top scorer in all three decisive matches of the tournament. Yashpal’s decisive innings were 89 runs against West Indies in the first group match, 40 runs against Australia in the deciding group match and 61 runs against England in the semi-final. Yashpal’s six against Bob Willis in the semi-final was memorable.
In the 83 World Cup, the backbone of the Indian middle order was Sandeep Patil and Kapil Dev.
Sandeep Patil, who scored 189 runs in the tournament, scored 50 off 57 balls against Zimbabwe in the second group match. And 51 not out in the semi-final. Sandeep Patil hit three consecutive boundaries against Bob Willis in the semi-final. Patil scored 27 off 29 balls against West Indies in a low-scoring final.
Roger Binny was the highest wicket taker in 1983. 18 wickets, Australia’s four-wicket haul in the crucial group match to clinch the semi-final, England’s openers dismissed in the semi-final and West Indies captain Kyle Lloyd’s dismissal in the final are the current BCCI. The president was Roger Binney.
Madanlal is another successful architect. Madanlal took 17 wickets for India in the tournament. It was Madanlal who took four wickets against Australia in the crucial group match and gave India three wickets in the final, including the dangerous Vivian Richards.
B.S. gave India the wicket of West Indies’ dangerous opening batsman Gordon Greenwich with a beautiful inswinger in the final and added 22 runs by joining Kirmani for the last wicket at the crease in the eleventh. Sandhu alias Balwinder Singh Sandhu was also one of Kapil Dev’s important devils.
Keerthi Azad and Ravishastri were the two spinners in the team. Shastri took three wickets for West Indies in the first group match. Kirti Azad played in only three matches. Azad tied the English batsmen including Ian Botham with his excellent bowling in the semi-final. Azad bowled 12 overs in the semi-final and conceded just 28 runs that day. And Botham’s wicket.
The top scorer in the ’83 World Cup final was Krishnamachari Srikanth, a brilliant fielder capable of breaking the 30-foot mark. In the final, Srikanth scored 38 runs from 57 balls while facing the West Indies fast bowlers. A beautiful six off West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts was the highlight of Srikanth’s innings.
Kapil Dev was the star of the World Cup. Against the devil of devils, Zimbabwe, India crumbled with a miserable score of five wickets for 17 runs. From there, the storm in Haryana rose like a phoenix. What followed was history. 175 runs, 16 boundaries and six sixes. Kapil Dev remained calm, brave and strong in times of danger. Vivian Richards was dismissed by Kapildev’s catch in the final. Kapil Dev also scored the most runs for India in the World Cup with 83. 264 runs and took 12 wickets. Captain himself was the most important of Kapildev’s devils.
India played eight matches in the 83rd World Cup. But Sunil Valsan was Kapil Dev’s fourteenth devil who did not play a single match in eight matches. Sunil Valsan was probably one of the unluckiest players in Indian cricket who could not play any international match for India not only in the World Cup.
MC Vasishth
2023-06-10 17:04:00
#Kapils #Devils
