Ashish Ranjan
India entered the 1983 World Cup as the underdog, but they stunned the world by defeating Australia, England, and two-time defending champion West Indies en route to the championship. The team led by Kapil Dev faced the formidable West Indies three times during the tournament, including in the final. They were victorious in two of the three contests.
In the final, India were beaten by 183 runs. Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Viv Richards, and Clive Lloyd were all stalwarts in the West Indies’ batting order. However, India’s all-around bowling performance enabled them win by 43 runs. Each of Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath took three wickets to demolish the opposition.
Andy Roberts, a member of the West Indies team in the final, stated in a recent interview that India won the final by good fortune. According to the ace fast bowler, West Indies were the superior team, but the heavens aligned in India’s favor that day.
“We did lose to India. It was one of these occurrences. Cricket, as we all know, is a game of magnificent uncertainty. You have both wins and losses. We are always ready to accept defeat. We play to win, but we do so fairly and squarely. We were not beaten by a superior team. But as we all know, cricket is a game in which you must maintain control throughout the entire match.
We outperformed India throughout India’s innings. And as you can see, cricket is not viewed as a game of chance. Before 1983, we had never lost a World Cup match. Twice in 1983, we were defeated. Between 1975 and 1983, India was responsible for our only two World Cup defeats, Roberts told Sportstar.
“We were in good form but destined for a loss. It was India’s good fortune in 1983. Due to the fact that we had a strong team in 1983, we lost two games to India. Five to six months later, we defeated India 6-0. It was therefore only that event. India’s fortunes improved after they were dismissed for 180 or so. We were not outmatched. Just now, we lost the contest. It was neither arrogance nor apathy,” he added.
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Roberts believes the dismissal of Viv Richards was the turning point in the summit conflict.
In the final, legendary West Indian batsman Viv Richards scored 33 runs in just 28 balls, and it appeared that he would steal the game away from India. However, Madan Lal was able to dispatch him after Kapil Dev made an incredible backwards catch. Roberts identified this instant as the decisive moment of the match.
“I believe it was when Viv Richards left. Never could we recover. The only difference in the finals is that we were inserted in 1975 and 1979. In 1983, we were second to bat. That was the distinction, Roberts stated.
