SAVE THE NATURE

As a true follower of the Gentleman’s game and a huge fan of Cricket as a whole, i dedicate this blog to the Men who made Indians a great force in World cricket and stunned everyone. 25 years ago on this day 25th June India suddenly became a huge force to reckon in ODIs. This World cup was a morale boosting one for the nation. The Indian team were the underdogs in the touanament. Not many would have expected them to even 3 out of its 6 league matches cos they had won only one match against the lowly ranked East Africa back in 1975. It din win a single match in the 79 WC. The team consisted of few all rounders(Kapil,Madan lal, Amarnath, Binny) , a technically sound opener in the form of Gavaskar, 2 dashers in the form of Patil and Shrikkanth. None of them were great heroes in ODI arena then. They played according to the mantra ” Where there is a will there is a way”. Kapil always insisted the team on fighting hard for sucess, which they achieved at last.

it all started with the morale boosting victory over the two time defending champions West Indies on 9th june 1983 at Old trafford(ha ha this place has a special place in heart, Manchester united and OT(Old Trafford) rules). But India were then defeated by West Indies and Australians convincly in the league phase(but India got a sweet revenge over the latter in the other league game). Then came the day that the whole Indian squad witnessed whats called the “BEST INNINGS FROM AN INDIAN”. India struggling at some 17/5, an innings which can be termed as the perfect example for CAPTAINS KNOCK was played by Kapil Dev the chief architect of India’s victory. He scored a smashing unbeaten 175(Due to BBC camera crew strike this epic knock had no video coverage sadly) and the triggered the confidence in the Indian camp and with the help from the likes of Yashpal Sharma, Sandeep Patil, Jimmy Amarnath and others India went into the finals.

OT June 22: England won the toss and batted first.  the  Indian bowling England to score 213 (all out, 60 overs). Fowler (33 from 59 balls, 3 fours) top scored, and Kapil took 3 for 35 in eleven overs, with Jimmy and Binny taking two wickets each. In reply,  Yashpal (61 from 115 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes) and Patil (51 from 32 balls, 8 fours) made half-centuries, as India reached their target in 54.4 overs, winning by 6 wickets in an upset victory over the Englishmen. Jimmy (46 from 92 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) picked up the man-of-the-match award for his all round performance, which saw him add 46 runs to his earlier bowling success (2/27 in 12 overs).

Final was played in the mecca of cricket The LORDS on june 25th. Roberts, Marshall, garner and Holding ripped through the Indian batsmen The Indians were bowled out for a low score of 183 and Shrikkanth scoring the highest individual score of 38 for the match. This total is nothing considering the Batting power of the Champions. But the agenda was take the fight to the opponent for the Indians and i can still not forget the ball that got rid of Greendige. Gem of a delievery. He left the ball expecting it to move away like the previous 3 balls but it swung in and took the bails. The great West Indian Viv Richards started to flourish with an array of powerful strikes. It took a stunning catch from the Indian captain to get rid of the great man and the man of the match Jimmy(in both semis and final) polished off the tail and the rest is history. the joy in the camp of Kapil’s Devil camp was great.However, the Indian bowling exploited the weather and pitch conditions perfectly to bowl out the best batting lineup of the era for 140 from 52 overs in return, winning by 43 runs and completing one of the most stunning upsets in cricket history, defeating the previously invincible West Indies.

The proud captain lifted te trophy with great joy and pride. In two years time India went on to win the world championship of cricket under sunil gavaskar. Let this inspire India to win more World cups.

I would like to end this blog by asking people to also support ICL, to which the greatest ever all rounder from India is commited. Those who play in ICL are not commiting any mistake. They are playing cricket which is their passion. Hope ICC and BCCI relaxes its stance soon. Kapil and the others associated with the ICL have a lot to offer for Cricket in India. Jai hind.