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ICC World Cup 2019: Kapil Dev led World Cup 1983 Indian team never thought of lifting the cup, says Srikkanth
Former Captain and an integral part of India’s 1983 World Cup triumph, Krishnamachari Srikkanth said that it was Kapil Dev’s belief in the team that led them to the routes of glory.
Former Captain and an integral part of India’s 1983 World Cup triumph, Krishnamachari Srikkanth said that it was Kapil Dev’s belief in the team that led them to the routes of glory. “When we left the shores of India in 1983 we never expected to be World Champions. In fact my flight was from Bombay to New York with just a stopover in London for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.”, Srikkanth was quoted by the ICC media.
He said that the reason for this was that in the first two World Cups the team managed to defeat just East Africa and they even lost to Sri Lanka who were not even a test playing team back then. However, Kapil Dev’s belief in the team made all the difference in the squad. Right before the tournament, the captain assured his players that if they had beaten West Indies in a game at Berbice, Guyana right before the tournament whilst touring, why can’t they do it yet again?
To this Srikkanth said, “We thought he was crazy but his self belief got us thinking maybe it’s true. We went out and beat them quite comfortably and suddenly thought to ourselves, we can do this.” Kapil Dev was also the fifth highest run getter in the tournament and the highest for India with 303 runs in 8 matches. In the big finals against the Windies, India managed to put just 183 runs on board with Srikkanth being their highest run getter (38 runs from 57 balls). However, Indian bowling line up created a history that day with the likes of Kapil Dev, BS Sindhu, Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath who emerged as heroes.
