This day 40 Years Back - Minnows to Champions - 603

 THE DAY WE WON THE CRICKET  WORLD CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

                          
There are some Days &  Incidents which stay firmly etched in memory . One such day  was and is the 25 th of  June  1983 . Kapil s Devils after a stupendous and unbelievable run in the Round Robin League were in the Finals of  The World Cup Cricket  and were facing  the Mighty West Indians for the coveted WORLD CUP TROPHY .

The Indians were clearly the Pre Match Minnows . The West Indies had Vivian Richards and Clive Lloyd at the top to name just two of the greatest batsmen ever to have played the game and the Tearaway Speedmerchants  Andy Roberts , Michael Holding , Joel.Garner and Malcom Marshall in its ranks . Each delivery from these foursome was no less potent than a bullet fired from a very close range . The Helmet and other safety accessories were just beginning to find their way .

I have been a cricket fan all my life , having played the game at School , College and later for Madura Coats Ambas in their District League and Inter Unit  Matches at Madurai , Tuticorin and Koratti .

On this particular day I was in the second shift which gets over at 11. 00 pm . Self and
V Srinivasan my colleague and also a keen Cricket enthusiast , quickly finished the shift end work and rushed out to catch the Radio Commentary by The  BBC . In Those days TV was still in its initial stages of installation and that too only in a few pockets of the National Capital  and the Radio or Transistor Set was the only mode to stay in touch with the outside World of sports .

 I was staying at K2 , opposite the Colony Club of our Staff Quarters  . I had a powerful 5Band NATIONAL , Japanese made Transistor Radio and it being almost midnight the reception was fairly  good .

Not many in the present Gen will be even aware of the vagaries involved to tune into the far off Radio Stations of the BBC, VOA OR even The  Radio Ceylon nearer home . Weather at the Transmitting - Receiving end  play a large part in the quality of the reception , The Power and Band Width of the Transistor in your hand , Your own sitting or standing posture with God  knows what  and plain luck determine how well you are able to tune in to the desired Radio Station .

We made ourselves comfortable on  the benches of  the colony club where  movies were  screened every alternate weekend and followed the match with a fair amount of biscuits and snacks for company .

We had lost our first wicket with hardly 2 runs on the Board and  were bundled out for a measly 183 runs . The  saving grace was that Shrikanth my favourite ended up as the top scorer with 38 runs .

What followed was something out of this world . Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal turned the match on its head and the West Indies were shot out of a paltry 140 and we had won the match by 43 incredible runs .

KAPIL S DEVILS HAD MADE THE WHOLE
OF INDIA PROUD BY THEIR MEMORABLE WIN 
                             


Today is also the 25 th of June but  some 40 Years after the Historic Win which went on to pave the way for INDIAN CRICKET to be looked at with respect in all Formats .
Truely Memorable Day .

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