On that watchful note, let me try narrating this lifetime tale as best as I can!

There has been a lot of buzz around the recent Indian movie, 83 which is based on the Indian Cricket teams 1983 Cricket World Cup victory. Also there are some mixed reactions about the movies’ underwhelming box office performance. Having watched the Semi Final and Final, Live on my Black & White TV while I was in Grade 10 back then 38 years ago, and having watched the movie now, I can tell you that the Victory then and the Movie now are priceless and box office collections cannot and should not measure the success. I am particularly emotional about this team. Is there any sports team in the world, in any sport, that has remained as a team together after 38 years. I see this team quite regularly at events and they are doing something together almost every year for the last 38 years. They still recognize themselves as one unit so much so they have a watsapp group, if that’s any measure of team cohesion. They even apparently had a Sunday club in their playing days, where the team used to meet to unwind. And on 25th June 2008, the team went to the Lords cricket ground, London, to celebrate 25 yrs remembrance of that famous 1983 World Cup win at that very venue. Some role model of togetherness.

For those who watched the movie 83, you might have picked a few things I write here but there are some things by way of context which may be quite interesting especially for those who weren’t born yet in 1983 or were just born around that time. Therefore pardon me for any repetition. I have used information across the internet while compiling this and wish to express my thanks to all of them who put that out there.

Many of you may not know that the first ever cricket one-day match was played in 1962 when four English county cricket teams filled in a gap to play in a limited overs knockout competition. It was won by Northamptonshire who defeated Leicestershire by five wickets.

Nine years later in 1971, the first One Day International took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as a replacement for the third test of the 1970–71 Ashes series between Australia and England. This was due to heavy rain that washed out play for the first three days of the test. A 40 over match was played with each over being eight deliveries. After England made 190 from 39.4 overs, Australia chased the target at a steady rate to secure the match with 42 balls remaining.

Infact later after two years the first cricket World Cup was at Lords and it was the 1973 Women’s Cricket World Cup. It was during this event that plans were made for a men’s tournament to take place in 1975. The tournament was planned to involve all the Test nations at the time in two group stages with the top two in each group qualifying for the knockout stage with the final at Lord’s.

The 1975 Cricket World Cup (officially called the Prudential Cup ’75) was the inaugural men’s Cricket World Cup, and the first major tournament in the history of One Day International (ODI) cricket. Organised by the ICC, it took place in England in June 1975. The tournament was sponsored by Prudential Assurance Company and had eight participating countries, the six Test-playing teams of the time – Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies and the two leading Associate nations at the time Sri Lanka and East Africa.

The West Indies which came into the tournament as favourites, defeated Australia in the final at Lord’s by 17 runs to become the first World Cup winners.

India won one of the 3 group matches against East Africa in the 1975 World Cup. Infact in their very first ever World Cup match against England, India scored 132/3 in 60 overs in reply to England’s 334/4 in 60 overs. Sunil Gavaskar batted all 60 overs and remained not out on 36.

You may be curious to know the Indian Team of the 1975 World Cup,

The tournament had eight teams participating in the tournament with the only change being Canada as the 8th team instead of East Africa. West Indies, again tournament favourites, and England met in the final at Lord’s with the West Indies defending their title from four years earlier with a 92 run victory. India lost all 3 group matches in the 1979 World Cup.

Half the Indian team that played the 1975 edition was intact for the 1979 tournament, with some new and young players like Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar who joined the team which had the following lineup,

For the 1983 event, the seven teams of 1975 and 1979 were retained with the only change being Zimbabwe as the 8th team.

Red ball, White dress, 60 overs, the famous Dicky Bird as Umpire, no TV adverts, not even a Live Telecast. Only the Semi Final and Final was telecast live by Doordarshan. No 3rd umpire, no reviews, no powerplay, no field restrictions, no bouncer restrictions. There was a Lunch break after first 30 odd overs in the first teams innings.

I was watching all of this in the Semi’s and Finals on a B&W TV called Konark, at around 10pm.

Unlike in the 1975 and 1979 Cricket World Cups, the 1983 format was a test of consistency with group stages played in a double round robin format. Group A comprised the hosts England, Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, while Group B had reigning champions West Indies, India, Australia, and Zimbabwe. Matches took place simultaneously at multiple venues, with matches played every other day and a reserve day in case of rain.

Group B started with the first shock of the tournament, as Zimbabwe beat Australia in what Wisden described as “a bigger surprise than any in the previous two World Cups”. Duncan Fletcher led the way, making 69* and being awarded man of the match.

In the other opening Group B match, India delivered another “shocker” as they beat the holders West Indies by 34 runs, bowling them out for 228 with 35 balls to spare — the 1st ever defeat suffered by the mighty West Indies in a World Cup as they had dominated both the 1975 and 1979 tournaments without losing a single match in either edition!

In their 2nd game India comfortably beat Zimbabwe by 5 wickets and now had two back to back wins after having won only one game in the last two World Cups combined. However Two days later, Australia thrashed India by 162 runs.

Again in their 4th game, India lost to West Indies by 66 runs, with Viv Richards making 119 and for the second time in the tournament, an opposing batsman retired hurt by a Windies fast bowler as Dilip Vengsarkar was the unlucky batsman on this occasion, hit in the mouth by Malcolm Marshall. Vengsarkar never played the rest of the tournament.

So, two back to back wins followed by two back to back defeats for India.

India’s 5th Group match vs Zimbabwe on June 18th 1983 was described by Wisden as “a remarkable match which contained one of the most spectacular innings played in this form of cricket”, as Kapil Dev coming in to bat with India at 9/4 that soon became 17/5, went on to score 175 not out from India’s score of 266/8, which Zimbabwe narrowly failed to chase down, India winning by 31 runs. This win kept India in the race for the Semi Final. As you may know this match was never video recorded as BBC was on strike that day.

The final group B match was a straightforward tussle for qualification between Australia and India. However, after India had made 247 all out, in a team effort where the highest score was 40 and there were 37 extras, Australia collapsed to 129 all out, with Madan Lal and Roger Binny taking four wickets each.

England batted first and started strong. At 69/0 in 17 overs, after Kapil and Sandhu go wicket less, Roger Binny strikes twice. And then the ever graceful David Gower was taken out by Jimmy Amarnath’s seemingly lazy bowling.

The stroke filled Alan Lamb perished when Yashpal threw at the non strikers end though he was right next to the strikers end where Mike Gatting was running. It showed a cricketer with immense presence of mind as Gatting was quick and made his ground but Lamb running towards the far end wasn’t fast enough and thought anyways he was not running to the danger end. Yashpal the reliable fielder was at play!

Jimmy then takes out Gatting with a leg cutter.

I never saw any jumping or fist thumping by bowlers. They were modest and used to amble across slowly and a few players come by and gently pat them. That was all the celebration whenever a wicket fell.

Then they thought Ian Botham will take the game away but Kirti Azad’s gentle offspin does him in.

England makes 213 in 60 overs and is bowled out of the very last ball.

India sniff the chance to make it to the final.

Bob wills is a formidable bowler but India did see more destructive stuff from the Windies earlier on in the group matches.

We pick up play with Bob Willis running in to bowl to Sunil Gavaskar, probably the one Indian batsmen in that team who never wore a helmet in his career as the bat was his most potent weapon of defense and offense.

With Bob Wills, Ian Botham and Paul Allot, England did have a formidable pace attack.

In about 40 overs India score 135 for 2 with Jimmy Amarnath and Yashpal holding things together.

Jimmy is runout for 46 and Yashpal skies one after a well made 61.

At the other end the stylish Sandeep Patil is on a rampage and on 42.

Kapil walks in at over # 55 and 7 runs left for a place in the final.

When it is 3 to win, Patil plays a cover drive and they run 2 and the crowds come in, as it always used to happen in England in those days, thinking the game is over. It takes 10 minutes to clear the ground so that India can score the 1 winning run.

Bob wills the bowler and England captain, now asks all his fielders to come to the offside and closer to the boundary so that they can run into the pavilion (which was on the offside) as soon as the 1 run was scored.

Only two members of this team have played all 3 World Cups and a few more played in 1979 as you see below,

• S M Gavaskar (3rd World Cup)
• K Srikanth
• M Amarnath (3rd World Cup)
• Y Sharma
• S M Patil
• Kapil Dev
• K Azad
• RMH Binny
• SMH Kirmani
• Madan Lal
• BS Sandhu

Apparently, eve of the World Cup final, the Board president speaks to the team and tells them to just enjoy the game and irrespective of the outcome, each player will get a bonus of Rs 25000…. This was considered a big bonus for the players…. Take a deep breadth… and think about today’s IPL auctions!

The West Indies were an invincible team, winning the previous two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 which were the first two World Cups incidentally and this being the 3rd. West Indies were bruised badly by their first match defeat in India’s hands and therefore they were spewing venom in their 2nd group game which India lost by a mile and this is the match where Vengsarkar was hit on his chin by a nasty bouncer from Marshall.

When you are out there playing an ODI you always wait for the bowler to go after. Who do you go after in a bowling line up that has Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner.

English tabloids wrote off India which they had, since the beginning of the tournament. However a final against the mighty mighty West Indies was just too much for India. Remember, in 3 World Cups up until this final, West Indies had lost only one match and that was their opening match in this 1983 World Cup against India and they did avenge that fall in pride in their 2nd group match against India sending them to a crushing defeat but nothing like showing the world and India who they are, in a final. Therefore the West Indies were I am certain getting ready to deliver some lethal blows in the final.

June 25th 1983, Saturday, was a damp morning as one would expect in England but this was extra damp.

Clive Llyod was the West Indies captain in all 3 World Cups, and he must have been one solid leader to be captaining across 3 World Cups. Lloyd wins the toss and asks India to bat.

Gavaskar and Srikanth open.

Here I guess the team wouldn’t have minded if Gavaskar repeated his 1975 World Cup knock of 36 n.o. by carrying the bat for 60 overs against England. India needed that stiff resistance at one end to be able to give themselves an outside chance of putting up a fight, leave alone winning.

When you hear the nick names of these West Indies bowlers, that in itself is a bit terrifying.

Big Bird for Joel Garner, Hitman for Andy Roberts, Whispering Death for Michael Holding. While Malcolm Marshall didn’t have a nick name, his real name was good enough as he had that lethal bouncer despite being the shortest of the West Indies bowlers.

Play begins and the openers see off Roberts’ first over. Big achievement. And then came Joel Garner.

Experienced and specialist batsmen look for how the bowler is gripping the ball at point of delivery. This gives them an idea of what kind of delivery that would be.

Now when Joel Garner bowls, apparently you can’t do this as the ball is like a lemon inside his palm, fully hidden almost and you get the feeling his arm will hit your head when he releases the ball as it descends from such an height so much so batsmen used to say that his arm was coming down from a height of 12 ft which gave the perception that it was coming down from above the sightscreen, in a batman’s view.

Garners deliveries are flying like rockets but Gavaskar and Srikanth survive. Over number 3 from Roberts, Gavaskar goes caught behind, little master in a rare lapse in judgement, lunging at an outside off delivery. Bit of bother for India.

Garner continues to spew venom as average height of each delivery is at chest level.

West Indies had a very arrogant (read confident) way of batting. Dominate the bowling and unsettle the bowlers and Viv Richards led the way.

Srikanth had a similar style which probably helped. He played a few cheeky ones but also played some exquisite shots, a pull of Roberts was a class apart followed by another pull that went like a bullet to the boundary. And then came an amazing square cut off Garner. The more they bounced, the more aggressive Srikanth got. Looked like he was all set to play a big knock that morning.

Now at the other end was Jimmy Amarnath.

ODI was still nascent and teams didn’t have separate players for Tests and ODI’s like today. Therefore the same Jimmy Amarnath who could play a full day scoring 25 was batting #3 in a ODI World Cup final. When I finish this writeup you will know the efficacy of this man in any format.

Jimmy Amarnath to this date in my personal opinion would rank in the Top 3 best batters of destructive pace bowling in the world. When I say pace bowling, I mean the ball being hurled at him over after over, bouncing, cutting, swinging, yorking and anything you can imagine. He is impenetrable. He has played the fastest ever bowlers across teams, West Indies, Pakistan, Australia, England. He is also know as a man of infinite come backs. Whenever one thought Jimmy had retired, the selectors would call him back as they were touring abroad and the wickets are pacy and bouncy and no one can tire the ball and the bowlers as he did.

Also, to me, Jimmy has been the best player of the hook shot in the game. There is magic when he plays the hook shot and that too off high pace and bounce.

Malcolm Marshall bowls and Jimmy hooks him for what I would say was the best shot of that final.

While this was going on, Srikanth at the other end continues to have fun and dispatches another menacing Holding for a couple of boundaries.

Now Marshall fires one straight in at the wickets and Srikanth falls lbw for 38, which little at that point did we know would eventually be the top score of this final across both teams.

Now, can any batsman who follows, match up that aggression of Srikanth, which is key to scoring against the West Indies.

India was 85/2 in 28 overs and the commentator says, India has done well to bring up the rate to 3 an over which is not bad at all against this attack.

It is Yashpal Sharma, who joins Jimmy Amarnath.

Now sometimes there are unforgettable sights. Larry Gomes the lone spinner in the West Indies line up (apart from Viv Richards who bowls as well) bowls and Jimmy steps out and hits a graceful six. Not something I have seen often.

But soon after, Holding rips Jimmy’s off stump and he goes for 26 and still 30 overs left to bat.

Sandeep Patil plays some delectable shots as a few wickets tumble at the other end.

At 100 for 4 and 28 overs left, batsmen start playing lofted shots off Gomes instead of consolidating. Yashpal and Kapil perish in this fashion.

Sandip Patil was one of the stylish batters in the Indian team those days and a power hitter. He did that to Gomes in the final and Madan lal joined him as well.

Another ambitious shot by Patil off Garner and he perishes for 26. Patil could have gone on for a bigger score that morning as he was in sublime touch.

So from 85/2, score tumbles to 153/8. Does this sound familiar!

Marshall bowls a nasty one at Sandhu which hits his helmet but he continues to bat and plays some exquisite shots.

Holding cleans up Kirmani and India bowled out for 183 in 54 overs. Pretty much Game over!

At the innings break, as what Krish Srikanth mentions in one of the videos, the mood was low in the dressing room. Till this day a team that didn’t give itself an outside chance to go beyond the group stage, is in the final now and was feeling some belief and therefore low as they probably gave up a good chance. Kapil’s words to the team I believe were, lets not give in easily and lets make them fight for every run.

And Team India walks in to defend 183 in 60 overs against the West Indies whose openers by themselves normally score those runs.

Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge have done many a 100 opening partnerships and were very much capable for scoring 183 by themselves in half the overs, why 60 as they are ruthless from the word go.

India didn’t have the bowling might of the Windies. Kapil Dev, Roger Binny, Madan Lal were no match to the Windies pace avalanche of Roberts, Holding, Garner and Marshall. But the Indian bowlers were crafty though. The question is if they were crafty enough to defend such a low score to beat a West Indies just waiting to roar and conquer.

The two openers out in the middle, no helmets and looking all set to finish the game with their swagger and confidence. Greenidge plays a flowing cover drive off Sandhu in his first over. 3 overs between Kapil and Sandhu go by and things looking very comfortable for the West Indies.

Sandhu bowls over#4 and delivers that magic off-cutter which Greenidge thought was clearly going outside off and decided to let it go and the ball cut in and bowled him

Sandhu said later that he normally bowls outswingers and bowled a rare inswinger which took Greenidge by surprise as he was expecting the ball to swing away and hence shouldered arms. While Viv Richards dismissal is hailed as the turning point of this match, I personally think this Greenidge wicket was the turning point, as Greenidge would have finished the game in a flash if he was at the wicket for about 15 to 20 overs. It opened the floodgates. The commentators words were, unusual lapse by a man of Greenidges’ experience

Who else but the great Sir Viv Richards walks in at #3. Richards has nothing called a settling in time and he whacks Sandhu to the boundary as soon as he takes guard. And does the same to Kapil. Only Richards knows why and how he makes every bowler look so easy. Just casually leaning into every shot and effortlessly pulling, cutting and driving. Then came Madan Lal and same result with the ball finding the boundary repeatedly. I recall even today after 38 years, at that point I thought the Windies would win 183/1. Richards in that mood doesn’t need 60 overs. When Richards hits those shots and walks around swaying his bat and chewing gum with a semblance of disdain for what’s around him, you can’t help but believe that the game is over.

After giving 3 fours in his previous over, Madan Lal manages to get Haynes caught at cover. However Windies have already raced to 50/2 in just 11 overs. Remember, it is a subpar score they are chasing.

Clive Lloyd walks in with a standing tribute all across the stadium, as that’s how respected he was in the Caribbean and all over the cricket world. Lloyds was the West Indies captain in the 1975 and 1979 World Cup both of which WI won and this was his 3rd consecutive WORLD CUP and just a few hours away from a 3rd consecutive World Cup win as captain. Lloyd and Richards at the wicket meant, Game Over. Yes I have now said this multiple times. Lloyds plays one ball and then pulls a muscle and asks for a runner. Is there some hope… wishful thinking, huh!

Madan Lal continues and bowls a short one to Richards who is in a hurry to wrap things up. He pulls this towards mid wicket for a six… atleast that was his intent. Doesn’t time well and the ball goes very high and travels closer to the boundary but is dropping about 10 yards inside the line… No fielder there but someone is running from backward of square along the boundary and Kapil who was at mid wicket is running backwards towards the boundary to give it a chance.. Kapil gets to the ball and makes one of the best catches look simple. Spectators run into the field and hug Kapil, as if the game is over.. This was a common scene in England those days and that’s one reason in all matches both teams used to run for their life to the pavilion once the last runs were scored as it could prove dangerous if that deluge of spectators converged upon a few players

In that spirit Madan Lal bowls an away seaming delivery to left handed Larry Gomes in the same over and Gomes edges to Gavaskar at slips and there is some belief in the Indian camp. However the Windies bat deep down with Jeff Dujon and Marshall being very competent batsman and the target being low, it was never a formidable task. And with Lloyd still at the crease, 66/4 still didn’t look all that challenging for the Windies.

The only difference is, one of the teams was under no pressure at all and that was India. They came prepared for any result though a win, however remote would ofcourse taste sweeter.

Binny bowls a half volley to Lloyd who hits a full blooded drive only to be caught at extra cover by Kapil and at 66/5 with Lloyds gone, 183 does look like 275. Another field invasion. The ground is now full of spectators and the police are busy chasing them away.

Faoud Bacchus plays a defensive shot on the offside and sets off for a single and Krish Srikanth runs in from cover and hits the non striker stumps direct. Bacchus escapes but if there was a 3rd umpire I think that would have been most likely out. But that attempt by Srikanth showed the spirit of the team at that point. Now they believed they can win and were going all out.

Many a time we talk about how critical it is to have a specialist keeper behind the stumps. Syed Kirmani has had his dry patches and infact played the 1975 World Cup but was dropped from the 1979 World Cup. However on that day June 25th 1983 he brought his A game. He never seemed to ever miss a ball that went past the stumps. He could just follow the ball wherever it went, like a bee. Sandhu was back into the attack and delivers another gentle away moving delivery to Bacchus who flashes outside off and like a flubber Kirmani follows the edge upto first slip and takes the catch right under the nose of Gavaskar at first slip.

West Indies 76/6.

Dujon and Marshall can be quite a game changer and with few runs to chase, they did fancy their chances. Dujon pulls Sandhu for a low flat 6 to square leg.

West Indies 100/6 in 33 overs.

Dujon and Marshall started playing carefully knowing well that they had enough time in their hands. They kept running sharp singles and not playing and flashy shots.

West Indies, 65 required in 19 overs and 6 wickets down.

India had to use a 5th bowler apart from Kapil, Binny, Madan Lal, Sandhu. That option was Jimmy who was a part time bowler.

Jimmy’s lazy bowling action can at times be very deceptive. He bowls one to Dujon with some extra bounce and Dujon playing very safe now, lets that one go at the very last minute………not in time though and as he takes the bat away from the ball, the ball hits the bottom edge and goes on to hit the stumps. If he stood still, the ball would have gone to the keeper or he should have played it well forward. He was in two minds which did him in.

Jimmy delivers one more wide outside off stump and Marshall lunges forward and edges to Gavaskar at first slip.

West Indies, 8 down and still 60 to get.

Andy Roberts and Garner would have never imagined they would need to pad up and bat after doing such a great job with the ball.

Remember in the first group match against the West Indies that India won, Roberts and Garner scored 37 each and added 71 runs for the 10th wicket and almost took West Indies to victory in that match. Am certain this was playing in Kapil’s mind.

Kapil fires one in and Roberts is trapped in front.

West Indies, 46 required in 9 overs with 1 wicket in hand. This looks unreal.

Amarnath to Holding, who plays all over a straight ball and Dicky Birds’ finger goes up and signals the conquest of Kapil’s Devils. The players run for their lives into the pavilion and in less than 20 sec the ground is flooded with spectators

India wins the 3rd Prudential cup which also comes with a huge!!! Prize money of GBP 20k.

And Jimmy Amarnath won the man of the match in the Semi Final and the Final… wow what a tournament he had.

Yashpal Sharma who was called the “Crisis Man” of the team and in that tournament played two crucial knocks, the 89 vs West Indies in the winning group game and the 61 vs England in the Semi Finals. Not to mention the numerous runs he saved and the runouts. He is someone I reckon as the best chaser of the ball to the boundary line so much so I always got the feeling he could run faster than the ball.

It is sad he is no more around to join the team in their celebrations but his role at the 1983 World Cup will live forever. Love you Yashpal.

I love that West Indies team as much as I love that Indian Team. Clive Lloyds team was difficult to hate despite the menace they have caused simply because they are too professional. They are quite unmoved by victory or defeat and their self confidence in their abilities is something for all to learn from. You will never see them using their mouth when frustrated. Their reply is always with the ball or the bat and man, they will make sure you hear it loud and clear.

Malcolm Marshall was one of those, a super talented cricketer with amazing bowling skills and game changing batting prowess too. Every time he takes that Bombay Marine Drive kind of runup, it feels like a wicket would fall. I was deeply saddened when Marshall passed away due to illness in 1999 at the young age of 41.

When I was in school, our hobby amongst students was to exchange black and white photo stickers of these great cricketers from across teams and stick them on the inside of the lid of our geometry boxes. Some players’ stickers were difficult to get and would be exchanged only for another rare sticker. It was serious stuff. We saw these players only in those stickers as there was no TV and live cricket update was through those radio commentaries of Ravi Chaturvedi and Anupam Gulati and Kishore Bhimani who were so good that you would feel as if you are watching the matches live and ofcourse the great Narottam Puri then came live on Television when the Semi finals and Finals of the 1983 World Cup was telecast Live. Infact I learnt my broken Hindi by listening to Padma Shri Ravi Chaturvedi’s Hindi commentary. He could talk a 1000 words in between deliveries to make sure that the listener never needs to feel their absence from the stadium.

Kapil believes, the standout of this team was Character.

To me, Team spirit is the spirit of the team when they lose and not when they win. When you watch this team you will understand that. Teams tend to disintegrate with failure and that applies to sports or corporates or even families. That’s the true test of that Character Kapil alludes to.

There is something special about this team and there are some special lessons I have taken home, most of which may seem obvious though. In the spirit of the Game I have grown up with, here are 12 Life lessons I have taken with me always from Team83,

1. It is sometimes good to be a underdog. Pressure is less and you do things for fun and therefore enjoy what you do. And when you enjoy what you do, the best comes out – Until India got to the Semi Finals they gave themselves little chance and took it one game at a time so much so, they had their return tickets booked before the Semi Finals. No pressure indeed.
2. It is less important how others rate you. It is most important how you rate yourself, the belief you have in yourself and your teammates. If that isn’t high, then you are unlikely to do well. Kapil repeatedly tried to focus his team throughout the tournament, on this self-belief, especially when India lost two back to back matches in the group stage.
3. The blessings of family and loved ones is sacrosanct for a team as it provides a very important psychological boost which often goes unnoticed. Towards the end of the group stage when some of the players had their family join them, there was a different vibe in the team which I noticed. I would give some credit to Romi’s presence for inspiring that great 175 n.o. from Kapil ofcourse without taking away any credit from that humble legend.
4. A Captain is only as good as the team. However the Captain has to be good. He has to be the most positive person in the team. He must be the last person to give up, even more, a person who will never give up hope. There is enough evidence of Kapil living this value including the final where he somewhere at the corner of his heart thought India could still win even with just 183 on the board. Hope at times can be powerful, but with the caution that hope should not become a strategy.
5. The “Talk Less Act More” attitude always helps in success. Wagging tongues tire, the more they are abused but working muscles fire the more they are used. I think the Indians picked this lesson from the very West Indies. Kapil nicely points out how, when Tony Greg criticized the West Indies and never gave them a chance, ahead of the 1975 World Cup, the West Indians never reacted but just won the first two World Cups.
6. In a team game, every player will not succeed every time but that should not matter as long as the team succeeds every time. There will always be the odd heroic performance and here the hero should stay humble and he will by default silently inspire others. Yashpal, Amarnath, Kapil, Binny to name a few were match winners across the tournament but never once they felt that way nor made anyone else in the team feel any less important. Infact the great Sunny Gavaskar didn’t have the best of tournaments, which is rare, but his presence was so important for the teams confidence and he was seen as so much part of the success with those two crucial catches in the final.
7. Transparency is key and each member should take out their frustration in front of each other and not behind. This happens on a few occasions especially after the back to back defeats and Kapil does call out a few players, but no one is offended as each member realise and are absolutely clear that there are no personal agendas but only One team agenda.
8. In Sports, in Organisations, in Life, defeat or failure isn’t uncommon. Sometimes you lose a few battles. But learning from every battle lost is important to win the war. This came through quite nicely in the way the team regrouped after the two defeats and was almost starring down being eliminated in that fateful match against Zimbabwe.
9. When you are committed to a mission, a National mission, all else takes 2nd priority. Yashpal and Sandhu stood out here I must say. Despite being preoccupied with trying personal circumstances, they made an effort and put the game and the quest for the World Cup ahead. This is not to mention that one shouldn’t have the right work/life balance but it is a lesson on resilience.
10. Past is history and Future is a mystery but Present is real and it is in our “Gift” to use it to our advantage. If this team were brooding over their performance in 1975 and 1979, they couldn’t have gotten anywhere, but Kapil never let that happen. He kept repeating “we are here to win” as unreal as it sounded. Taking it one game at a time without worrying too much about whether the team will make it to the Semi’s, lessened the pressure I must say.
11. Never let defeat get to your Heart nor Victory get to your head. As the Bhagwad Gita says, perform your action and detach yourself from the result. This will minimize disappointments and demotivation and all the 2nd and 3rd order consequences of the cycle of victory and defeat. When you win, celebrate the success. When you lose, celebrate the effort. But celebrate always as that’s the perpetual fuel for a team. I don’t need to elaborate how the team lived this virtue.
12. And here is Lesson#12. It is better to build a Star Team than a team of a few Stars. Trivia – The 12th man was so popular in olden day cricket so much so that when a team was announced on match day, it included the 12th man and it felt he was part of the playing team. Don’t see this any more atleast not very visible. I do think Team India had a few stars in 1983 but, even they didn’t play for their stardom but only for the Team-dom.

In the 40th year anniversary of this win, India will be hosting the 2023 Cricket World Cup. I’ll be delighted if the Board appoints Kapil’s Devils as mentors of the India Team for the 2023 tournament. I am certain that will create magic.

Best Wishes and God bless Team83 and I have been waiting for 38 years and hope I am lucky enough to meet them one day in person !