Recalling the joy of 1983 World Cup win and reflecting on India’s miserable loss in first Test at Leeds

It was interesting to see a post on X, a social media platform, from Madan Lal, member of the 1983 World Cup winning team, on how the Indian Test team missed the energy of a Virat Kohli while losing tamely to England on Tuesday night. What Maddy Paaji said resonates. This writer is fortunate to have interacted repeatedly with a few members of the Class of 1983, where Kapil Dev instilled faith and belief in the players who won the Prudenital Cup defeating mighty West Indies at Lords on June 25, 1983. It will always rank as India’s biggest-ever win in a format – One Day Internationals – where Kapil’s men were the minnows.

Evey year, around this time, fans who watched that final recall and replay how India conquered the West Indies. Sadly, that energy was missing in a different format but in the same country, England. Back to Madan Lal, he has been one of Kohli’s biggest fans for years. As I have shared the stage with a few senior cricketers on live TV shows, what Madan said was sensible, never doubt the contribution of Kohli in cricket. He has also said, repeatedly, someone like Kohli is a team man and infuses energy. And to add context, Madan Lal’s social media post also was in connection to what former India coach Ravi Shastri had said on air last night.

One thing about the golden cricketers, be it Madan Lal, even Kirti Azad, Late Yashpal Sharma and dear friend Sunil Valson and Surinder Khanna, they are never vicious. They still watch the game out of love. Yash, as we called Yashpal, was passionate and always spoke of team effort. Sadly, he passed away three years ago, but whenever he was on air in TV shows, he always spoke positively about Indian cricket, with his wisdom to be appreciated. I would be lying, if I do not mention, I keep discussing with good friend ‘Volley’ or “Volly’ as we address Sunil Valson, learning cricket from a player’s perspective is important. Professional writers like me with a rich 38- year experience may still miss out on some points. There is no harm in admitting talking to legends does help.

Important takeaways, the Indian team chose to lose on a wrong day, one day before the World Cup anniversary. Was this loss in the first Test a lesson for new skipper Shubman Gill or coach Gautam Gambhir as well? Well, Gambhir has mastered the art of blabber and bilge. When he says bowlers have to be groomed and one should not be critical, that is nonsense. Cricket fans are a passionate lot. So, the replies on social media to Gambhir’s quotes on the ‘bowling can shape up’ in Tests has been shredded.

Surely, the Test stage is not a platform for honing skills. Second, and most important, does not Gambhir have so many assistant coaches who seem wastrels. The way catches were spilled and Yashasvi Jaiswal looked like a comic strip character is shocking. Who are the coaches in charge and if cricketers at this level, who play IPL, perform so badly and put down catches, it definitely needs to be mentioned. Then again, it also appeared as if captain Shubman Gill was not in control. If you had seen the last day’s play on Tuesday, it was clear Rishabh Pant, who scored two tons in one Test was ‘acting’ like skipper and setting the field. The same was noticed even with KL Rahul also ideating.

For all those who would be critical of Virat Kohli the leader even minus captaincy and Rohit Sharma the captain not hesitating in asking his senior partner for tips, that was a brilliant phase. Touch your heart and say you do not miss the energy levels and enthusiasm of RoKo. In fact, for all his calm, Rohit used to chastise any fielder who messed on the field. For that matter, even if a fielder in close-in position, like Sarfaraz Khan did something stupid like getting too close to the batter, Rohit would be sharp and tell him to behave properly! This happened in the 2024 series when England toured India.

It has been hard watching the Indian bowling attack, where speedster Jasprit Bumrah rocked in the first innings and took five wickets. He could not produce the same effect in the second innings, which is not something to be critical of. At the same time, it is clear, Bumrah will no longer bowl in excess and risk his back. He has to be careful. The fear is lurking, a toothless Indian bowling attack; and if Bumrah skips two Tests, it becomes a nightmare.

Rewind to the Border Gavaskar Trophy Series in Australia this year, India flopped. That was a series where coach Gambhir hid behind the screen. This time, he and chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agakrar have hand-picked the captain and the players for transition. If the first Test was a trailer, it looks very scary.

Back to June 25, 1983, it is better to recall the magic created by a wonderful bunch led by Kapil Dev 42 years ago. It smells sweet, even today. Forget the first Test, it was a sheer disaster.