Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh portraying the role of Kapil Dev in his latest movie 83 has once again aroused interest amongst the masses about India’s historic 1983 World Cup triumph. Regarded as underdogs, the Indian cricket team beat all odds to lift the coveted trophy on June 25, 1983, at the iconic Lords’ Cricket Ground. 

In this article, we look at the match-by-match analysis of how India progressed towards its maiden one-day international World Cup triumph. 

India vs West Indies, Group B, match 4: June 9, 1983

Drawn in Group B, India faced West Indies on the opening day of the 1983 Cricket World Cup in Old Trafford, Manchester. Batting first, the Indian team scored 262/8 riding on Yashpal Sharma’s man of the match display of 89 runs. 

In reply, West Indies were bundled out for 228 with Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri picking up three wickets each. India won the match by 34 runs to start their campaign with a win. 

Brief scorecard: India 262/8 (Yashpal Sharma 89, Sandeep Patil 36; Michael Holding 2/32) beat West Indies 228 all-out ( Sir Andy Roberts 37, Joel Garner 37; Ravi Shastri 3/36) by 34 runs

India vs Zimbabwe, Group B, match 8: June 11, 1983

The Indian cricket team continued their dominant run in the second match of the tournament, registering a comfortable five-wicket victory over Zimbabwe. Bowling first, Madan Lal and Roger Binny wreaked havoc as the duo picked five wickets between them to bundle Zimbabwe out for a paltry total of 155. In return, the Indian team chased the target comfortably with 135 balls to spare. Madan Lal won the man of the match award for his impressive bowling figures of 3/27. 

Brief scoreboard: Zimbabwe 155 all-out (Grant Paterson 22, Iain Butchart 22; Madan Lal 3/27) lost to India 157/5 (Sandeep Patil 50, Mohinder Amarnath 44; Peter Rawson 2/11) by 5 wickets

Australia vs India, Group B, match 11: June 13, 1983 

India’s first loss of the 1983 World Cup came against Australia at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Batting first, Australia put on a mammoth total of 320 runs on the board on the back of a superb hundred by Trevor Chappell. 

Kapil Dev was the lone bright spark with the ball for the Indian team, picking a five-wicket haul. In reply, the Indian team stumbled against the Australian attack with Ken MacLeay ending with bowling figures of 6/39. India lost the match by a margin of 162 runs. 

Brief scorecard: Australia 320/9 (Trevor Chappell 110, Graham Yallop 66; Kapil Dev 5/43) beat India 158 all-out (Kapil Dev 40, Kris Srikkanth 39; Ken MacLeay 6/39) by 162 runs

India vs West Indies, Group B, match 14: June 15, 1983

India faced the wrath of Sir Vivian Richards in their second outing of the World Cup against the West Indies at the Kennington Oval. Electing to bat first, West Indies put on 282/9 with Sir Viv Richards scoring 119 off 146 balls. Later, Sir Andy Roberts and Michael Holding wreaked havoc with the ball as India lost the match by 66 runs. 

In the same match, Dilip Vengsarkar was injured by a Malcolm Marshall bouncer with the ball hitting his chin. Although the Mumbai batter did not face a grievous injury, he missed out on the subsequent matches in the World Cup. 

Brief scorecard: West Indies 282/9 (Sir Viv Richards 119, Desmond Haynes 38; Roger Binny 3/71) beat India 216 all-out (Mohinder Amarnath 80, Kapil Dev 36; Michael Holding 3/40) by 66 runs

India vs Zimbabwe, Group B, match 20: June 18, 1983

India’s penultimate group game against Zimbabwe is renowned for Kapil Dev’s heroic 175. Walking out to bat at 17/5, the then Indian captain single-handedly took India to a respectable score of 266. During the innings, Kapil Dev used a shoulder-less bat that resembled very closely to the Mongoose bat that was launched in the last decade. 

India vs Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup was not telecast due to the BBC strike, but the then Indian cricket team manager, PR Man Singh later confirmed in one of the interviews as lack of interest in the low profile match was the main reason for the non-telecast. 

Brief scorecard: India 266/8 (Kapil Dev 175, Syed Kirmani 24; Peter Rawson 3/47) beat Zimbabwe 235 all-out (Kevin Curran 73, Robin Brown 35; Madan Lal 3/42) by 31 runs

Australia vs India, Group B, match 23: June 20, 1983

India beat Australia by 118 runs in their last group fixture to qualify for the finals. Batting first, India put on 247 on the board with contributions from Yashpal Sharma, Sandeep Patil and Kapil Dev. Chasing 248 for victory against a potent Indian bowling lineup, Australians lost early wickets and never quite put up a fight, eventually getting bowled out for 129. Madan Lal and Roger Binny once again starred with the ball, picking four wickets each. 

Brief scorecard: India 247 all-out (Yashpal Sharma 40, Kapil Dev 28; Rodney Hogg 3/40) beat Australia 129 all-out (Allan Border 36; Madan Lal 4/20, Roger Binny 4/29) by 118 runs

England vs India, semi-final 1: June 22, 1983

In the first semi-final match, India faced hosts England in their first-ever knockout fixture in the World Cup. Asked to bowl, the Indian bowlers made most of the conditions on offer as England buckled under pressure and were dismissed for 213. 

Kapil Dev was once again the wrecker in chief with his bowling figures reading 3/35.  The Indian batters made light work of the target as they comfortably won the match by six wickets to storm into the final match.  

Brief scorecard: England 213 all-out (Graeme Flower 33, Chris Tavare 32; Kapil Dev 3/35) lost to India 217/4 (Yashpal Sharma 61, Mohinder Amarnath 46; Sir Ian Botham 1/40) by 6 wickets

India vs West Indies, final: June 25, 1983

India beat pre-tournament favourites West Indies in the final match of the 1983 Cricket World Cup to win their first World Cup title. Put into bat, the Indian team skittled out for just 183 runs with none of the batters barring Kris Srikkanth making a substantial contribution. 

Chasing the target, West Indies kept losing wickets at regular intervals as India managed to keep them down to 140 and script history. Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal were the star performers with three wickets each in the match. 

Brief scorecard: India 183 all-out (Kris Srikkanth 38, Sandeep Patil 27; Sir Andy Roberts 3/32) beat West Indies 140 all-out (Sir Viv Richards 33, Jeff Dujon 25; Madan Lal 3/31) by 43 runs 

Author: Kaustubh Potdar

Featured photo: Adrian Dennis / AFP