Kapil Dev wasn’t quite walking into the last chance
saloon as he made his way to the middle of the Nevill Ground at Tunbridge Wells
on Saturday June 18, 1983. But India’s World Cup campaign had definitely
reached a crossroads. India were 9/4 when Dev arrived at the crease; sadly, for
supporters of the national team, that was what the scorecard read, rather than
the odds on an Indian victory.
Some may argue that Zimbabwe were one of the weaker teams
in the 1983 World Cup. But they had already claimed the scalp of Australia at
the start of the group stage, and when they exploited the helpful conditions
early on at Tunbridge Wells, after Dev had elected to bat first, it looked as
if another giant killing was on the cards.
The carnage started after just two deliveries, Peter
Rawson dismissing Sunil Gavaskar without a run on the board. Kris Srikkanth
also departed without troubling the scorers, removed by Kevin Curran, and when
Rawson and Curran accounted for Mohinder Amarnath (5) and Sandeep Patil (1)
respectively, India were in tatters at 9/4.
Surely things could only get better? Not at first. Rawson
had Yashpal Sharma caught behind to reduce India to 17/5. “When India lost
their fifth wicket at Tunbridge Wells on Saturday morning with the score at 17
the day’s main issue appeared to concern the fate of the picnic lunches,” wrote
David Lacey in the Guardian. “Was it worth fetching them from the car park or
might it be better to enjoy them at leisure a little later, on the North Downs
perhaps or by the sea?”
Fortunately, Dev found a willing partner in Roger Binny.
Putting on 60 for the sixth wicket, the pair steadied the ship. But when Binny
and Ravi Shastri fell in quick succession, at 78/7 it looked almost certain
that India would not get through their 60 overs.
Through it all, Kapil Dev remained, accumulating runs
carefully at first in an attempt to rebuild the innings. “It was a calculated
assault rather than an inspired slog,” to use the words of Lacey. “The strokes
were correctly conceived and executed,” Alan Gibson stated in the Times.
The restrained nature of the innings in the initial phase
is highlighted by the fact that it took to the 26th over for Kapil to reach his
first 50. Gradually, he went through the gears, his next 50 coming in 13 overs,
and the third in just 10, extremely rapid judging by the standard of the day.
Madan Lal assisted his skipper in taking the score to
140/8, but the fun and games kicked off when wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani arrived
in the middle. The partnership yielded 126 runs in the final 16 overs, Kirmani’s
24 not out the second highest score of the innings. But it was Kapil Dev that
got tongues wagging, and spectators diving for cover.
Beating Glenn Turner’s previous World Cup record score –
171 not out for New Zealand against East Africa in 1975 – Dev’s unbeaten 175
catapulted India’s total to 266/8, dream territory just a few hours earlier.
Clearing the ropes six times, to go with his sixteen fours, the 138-ball
innings was achieved at the frightening strike rate of 126.81.
Gibson summed up Dev’s brilliance. “Amid the excitement,
I felt sorry for the Zimbabweans, who played bravely and sportingly, but must have
felt as if they were overwhelmed by an elemental force of nature, like someone
tossed over the Victoria Falls in a barrel.”
The Sunday Times’ Malcolm Winton called it “one of the
great innings of international one-day cricket.” Winton was not exaggerating.
Context is everything in sport. It’s one thing smashing a quick century when
your team is coasting; Kapil Dev made his runs when his team needed them most.
The importance of the innings was emphasised as the
Zimbabwean reply progressed. India regularly took wickets, but Curran’s fine 73
edged Zimbabwe closer. Eventually, India would win by 31 runs. Without Dev’s
contribution, Zimbabwe would have seriously derailed India’s World Cup hopes.
Defeat may not have been the end of the road
mathematically, as India needed to defeat Australia in their final group match
regardless of the result in Kent. Yet preparation wise, a loss against Zimbabwe
would have been psychologically damaging. If Dev had not dug his team out of a
hole, the heavy reverse may have brought doubts back up to the surface.
A crushing 118-run win over Australia followed, with Lal
and Binny taking four wickets apiece, and quietly the momentum was building. A
semi-final triumph over England continued India’s shock run, and when the mighty
West Indies were toppled by 43 runs in the final at Lord’s, the nation was
ready to party.
The transformation from 66/1 outsiders to World Cup
winners was complete. Celebrations throughout the country continued into the
early hours of the morning, thousands lining the streets as fireworks filled
the night sky. The Times reported that some observers compared the scenes to
the night India gained independence.
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent a personal message to
Dev. “My slogan is ‘India can do it’. Thank you for living up to it.” Sport has
the ability to promote a feelgood factor throughout a nation. India’s 1983
World Cup win was one example of this. The unexpected glory also stirred
India’s love affair with one-day cricket, and four years later, India and Pakistan hosted the World Cup, the first time the event had moved away from England.
It could have all been so different, though, if Kapil Dev
had not played that memorable innings
at Tunbridge Wells. His 175 not out against Zimbabwe proved a tipping point for
Indian cricket, and from that moment on, there was no holding India back.
“No-one could foresee then [when India were 17/5] that a
week later India would be winning the whole tournament; indeed, qualification
for the semi-final was in grave doubt.” The report in Wisden stressed the
precarious position India found themselves in on June 18. Kapil Dev changed
that, and in that chanceless innings he shaped the future of the tournament and
the sport.
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