World Cup 1983: When a stopover turned glorious

In the build-up to the 2019 World Cup, Cricbuzz is publishing an eleven-part series to reminisce every bygone edition. The first instalment harked back to the maiden World Cup in 1975 and the second looked back to the one in 1979. In this third instalment, Roger Binny talks about how an unfancied Indian side denied West Indies a third title on the bounce.

England, in June 1983, was supposed to be a mere stopover for some players in the Indian squad picked to play the World Cup. They were on their way to the USA for a bunch of friendly matches, anticipating an early exit from the tournament.

There was one man, though, who believed that India could go all the way - skipper, Kapil Dev. And it all began with India's tournament opener against the mighty West Indies - the turning point, as Roger Binny recollects.

Roger Binny: We lost the warm-ups games, which wasn't ideal preparation, but we were getting used to the conditions. The main talk started in Manchester when we beat West Indies in the first game. That's when the team turned around. We started to believe; if we could beat West Indies, we could beat other teams too. That gave us confidence. The whole attitude and team spirit, everything changed overnight.

The way we started fielding, bowling... It didn't feel like the same team that played the warm-ups. Not many would've thought that West Indies could've been beaten. There were so many other teams who were also in the fray like Australia, England, New Zealand and Pakistan that were good sides. To think going into the first game that we'll win the cup, nobody would take it seriously. It was Kapil's confidence. India had beat West Indies two months earlier in the West Indies by a big margin. That was still in Kapil's mind.

It wasn't just about Kapil in the end. His Indian side had transformed, and how. There was a spring in their step; they were giving their all. The lot of them were heeding to their captain's call.

Binny: We didn't have a very good fielding side. There were at least 50 per cent who were not good fielders. But if you saw us as we went along the tournament, we found that the fielders who were not very good were still giving their 100 per cent. They were trying. The effort was coming from them. That lifts a side even more when you see someone putting in the effort and a 100 per cent.

Binny was making a return to the Indian side after being dropped for the series before. He was determined to do well, and cement his place. And in conditions that suited his style of bowling, he returned as the highest wicket-taker with 18 in the tournament.

Binny: English conditions are suitable for my bowling. I seam the ball little more than I swing it. If you look at the scores all along, they were not very big scores. They were 240-250 and we were winning games. The wicket always had something for the bowlers, if you were bowling in the right areas. I didn't try and bowl too fast. Stuck to a good line and length and let the ball do everything.

India made a winning start, with two wins on the trot, but slipped up against Australia and West Indies. They, however, had the last laugh, as Binny's match-winning returns of 4 for 29 and a handy 21, took them a 118-run win to propel India into the semifinals, and knock Australia out.

Binny: In the game against Australia, we had to win. Both teams had to win to make it to the semifinals. The spell I bowled there was the best spell I had bowled in a long time. I extracted some swing and was able to pick up crucial wickets and scored a bit of runs too.

In one of the first meetings, Kapil said, "I have seven seniors with me. I don't have to tell you guys what you need to do and what your responsibilities are". And we delivered. It doesn't matter if you want to lead from the front, you also have to have the team for that. We had a team of 6-7 match winners who could win on their own. That was our strength.

For example, Amarnath. He used to surprise everyone. People would underestimate him because of his casualness, but he has destroyed opponents with the ball many times. Madan Lal, Sandip Patil, Kirti Azad... they did the job when it wasn't expected.

In the semifinal, Amarnath, Sandeep Patil and Yashpal Sharma ensured India had little trouble cruising to a six-wicket win over England to seal their maiden final spot - a step closer to the silverware. Dev's belief was being upheld and he was at the forefront, with 12 wickets and among the top-five run-getters with 303 - 175 of which came against Zimbabwe after his side were reduced to 9 for 4.

Binny: Kapil is a very positive person. He doesn't sit back and wait for things to happen. The other thing is that he leads from the front. He bats well, bowls well, fields well and his attitude is so good that it rubs off on everybody else. He's a naturally gifted player. You don't get many Kapil Devs in the world with his talent. He was positive the whole time. He never sat back and let things take over.

Ahead of the final, his message was simple. But it was his sheer belief throughout that had his troops rally behind him.

Binny: Basically he just put it across to us that we had come this far, we've to do well. We've beaten all the teams, now might as well give it one big shot. No point in coming this far and then giving it away. To me, he made sure that we didn't give up at any point in time. We didn't score too many runs, but he believed that whatever we scored, it was enough. That's the kind of spirit we had.

Standing 1-1 in the tournament, India beat West Indies by 43 runs in the final, bowling them out for 140, to win their maiden World Cup title, in a glorious end to what was their initially-planned "stopover".

Binny: After we won, Srikkanth was sitting and smoking in the Lord's balcony with so many people around. He didn't care about who's watching him or anything. He had not a bother in the world. Few would've done that, not just in the dressing room... but in the Lord's balcony.