India’s 1983 Cricket World Cup conquest remains a massive signpost

It is an amazing legacy that India’s 1983 Cricket World Cup has. More than four decades have lapsed and India has had many superb sporting successes across disciplines, but it is a fact that the conquest of the Prudential Cup – as it was known back then – by Kapil Dev’s team still evokes awe, admiration and respect, not to speak of goosebumps.

When sportspersons pursue a goal and get there, it is not usual for them to think that they would change the world around them. Of course, sporting success comes as balm – and sometimes as a happy distraction – to people at times but athletes and teams live in the moment and perform without casting a thought on how their success would transform a society and its people.

Change may sometimes be a knee-jerk reaction, but evolution is the effect of long-term, considered response to something that exudes both beauty and power. The 1983 win sparked such a response from the Indian people. It is a bit like artists and writers expressing their hearts. They have no idea of how their work would be received – even many generations later. 

Kapil Dev’s team was no different. It was not even considered a dark horse to win the tournament, given the fact that its predecessors in 1975 and 1979 had beaten only East Africa and had lost to Sri Lanka which was not even a full member of the ICC back then. It went out, aiming to express itself, even if did not dream of winning the trophy.

From being considered a past-time, sport transitioned. This conquest changed perceptions, and many youngsters saw sport be a career option. I believe the greatest thing that India’s victory on the 1983 World Cup did was to change how the average Indians looked at themselves with greater self-esteem than ever before. It gave Indians a greater sense of freedom.

I have been asked me why the 1975 Hockey World Cup victory and teams that won eight gold medals in Olympic Games between 1928 and 1980 not celebrated as much. The feats were enough for Hockey to be thought of as the National Sport and for players like Dhyan Chand, Balbir Singh Sr., Udham Singh, Leslie Claudius and many more to be accorded legend status.  

However, none of these successes was on live TV, certainly not in the same scale as the 1983 World Cup. Indian cricket team’s consistent successes combined with the opening up of the economy, bringing along cable and satellite television into our homes, to make cricket the pre-eminent sport in the country. 

The other reason is that the Cricket team gets to play more frequently than any other national squad and wins with more consistency than others. It explains why the phenomenal success of the Indian men’s Badminton team in winning the 2022 Thomas Cup has not been accorded similar status to the 1983 Cricket World Cup triumph. 

I remember Kapil Dev himself being very candid during a conversation some years ago in saying that one win alone was good as the start of a movement, but it could become a movement only if sustained. Crediting the team led by Sourav Ganguly, he said the common people started  believing that India could beat anybody. 

Of course, India has celebrated the efforts of Leander Paes (1996 Olympic Games bronze), K Malleswarni (2000 Olympic Games bronze) Abhinav Bindra (2008 Olympic Games gold), OV Sindhu (2016 Olympic Games silver, 2020 Olympic Games bronze) and Neeraj Chopra (2020 Olympic Games gold). And a lot more.

The 1983 triumph will remain not just a huge milestone but also a significant turning point in India’s sporting history. It is important since it came soon after India ushered in colour television. Not many households had TV sets, but community viewing was the order of the day as many found someone in the neighbourhood who had one and loved having people over.

The 1983 World Cup win stands apart and has a place of its of its own in India’s sporting journey, a signpost uniquely celebrates the success of a bunch of daredevils and marks the road ahead. More importantly, it touched the lives of the common people in a way that few other successes did earlier.

To be sure, there have been World Champions before, dating back to Wilson Jones, and after India won the 1983 World Cup, but that feat will have its own special place in the annals of Indian sport. It will not be wrong to say that it instilled a belief in every Indian athlete that no dream was too big to pursue, no podium was too high to be climbed.