Just a couple of days back on Sunday, MS Dhoni led young and energetic Indian team won ICC Champions Trophy regarded as the mini world cup. Indian cricket team and fans are still celebrating Champions trophy victory. BCCI has announced one crore cash prize for each player in the team. But things were not as rosy as they are today for Indian cricket and cricketers three decades ago. Let’s give a salute to the Kapil Devils who earned the first cricket World Cup for India exactly on this date, thirty years ago.
If we get into the history, Kapil Dev led Indian cricket team started their world cup campaign in 1983 as just an also ran team. But shocking everyone, Kapil Devils went on to clinching World Cup beating none other than West Indies in the final. The way Kapil Devils transformed from ‘also ran’ team to world champions is part of cricketing folk lore. Heroic performances from Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath, Madan lal, Roger Binny, Ravi Shastri, Kirti Azad, Yashpal Sharma among others has made India an underdog team in world cricket from then on.
The impact of 1983 world cup win was so immense in India that cricket has become life breath of Indian youngsters from then on. Cricket gained recognition and acceptance among general public at such a fast pace that it completely over shadowed other sports and pushed them into oblivion. Cricket became the favourite sports activity and past time. As India started developing economically, financially and technologically cricket also developed and cricketers slowly started to become demigods. Indians have literally worshipped cricketers like Kapil, Sunil Gavaskar, Azharuddin, Sachin, Ganguly, Kumble, Sehwag to the latest crop of young cricketers like Dhoni, Virat, Rohit, Dhawan as demigods. With huge money being pumped into cricket and players bagging crores though the game and sponsorships, cricket has attracted everyone from media to politicians to industrialists to movie personalities to mafia and outlaws. The introduction of IPL added altogether new dimension to cricket. Irrespective of its flaws and glitches IPL is the most awaited tournament all over the world.
Here we are today on June 25, 2013, celebrating cricket in every breath. The credit for this success and cheers goes to that Kapil Dev led team which laid the foundation for all this magic on June 25 1983, by clinching Prudential World Cup. Kudos to that brave gentlemen once again.