25 June 1983 and 2 April 2011 are two memorable dates for Indian cricket fans as India won its two ICC Cricket World Cups on these dates.
24 September 2007 is in the same bracket as well as India won the T-20 World Cup on this day. All these victories are above anything else because these were the tournaments where all mainstream cricket-playing nations participated.
Beyond these three though, there is one more tournament which India won in the past, wherein all Test playing nations participated. It was the World Championship of Cricket played in Australia during February-March 1985 and it was exactly 33 years before today, on 10 March 1985, that India lifted the trophy, beating Pakistan in the final played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The tournament was part of the celebrations commemorating the 150th anniversary of European settlements in Victoria, Australia. All seven Test-playing nations participated and it was the first event of this size and magnitude which was played under floodlights with players in coloured clothing.
In order to understand the significance of this victory for India, let’s first have a look at how India had been performing at that point in time.
This victory came after around 20 ½ months of India’s epic World Cup victory at Lord’s in June 1983. India was a surprise winner in 1983 and the cricket fraternity believed that it was a flash in the pan. Over the next 20 months, India actually did nothing to rebut this belief. West Indies toured India in 1983 after the humiliation in the 1983 World Cup final. They simply tore the Indians apart in both the Test and ODI series. Kapil Dev was removed from captaincy and Sunil Gavaskar again took over the reins.
In 1984-85, just before the World Championship, England came to India for a five-match Test series and an ODI series. A strong Indian side was humbled by a relatively inexperienced English side in the Test series by 2-1 and the ODI series was lost by an even bigger margin.
So when India arrived in Australia in February 1985, no one really gave them any chance. They were as big an underdog as they were before 1983 World Cup.
In the bookies’ list, India was at number six out of seven teams, just marginally above the minnow Sri Lanka.
But 20 months after the heroics in England, Indians were again on the roll during the World Championship in Australia during 1985. They surprised the fraternity, won all three group matches and two knockout matches with immaculate ease and lifted the trophy.
India’s victory margins in group matches demonstrate its dominance – they defeated Pakistan by 6 wickets, England by 86 runs and Australia by 8 wickets.
In the semi-final, India was up against New Zealand. Pakistan and West Indies played each other in the second semi-final.
India played New Zealand on 5 March 1985 in the semi-final. It is remembered for fireworks by the great Kapil Dev. Chasing 206 of New Zealand, India had a steady but slow start. Ravi Shastri scored a relatively slow half-century at the top of the order and Azhar wasted many balls during his knock at number three. When Shastri got out at the score of 102, asking rate had already zoomed past 6 runs an over, which during that era was a daunting task. Indians were losing hope, but at this point, Kapil Dev struck. He scored a half-century at a strike rate of 150. India won the match rather easily in the end with more than 6 overs to go.
It was also easy sailing for the Indians in the final on 10 March 1985. Pakistan scored 176 and India won this easily riding on a century partnership by Shastri and Srikkanth at the top of the batting order.
The Indian side, which looked very ordinary till it arrived in Australia, turned into a strong one overnight.
Players were supporting each other perfectly. Swashbuckling Srikkanth and steady Ravi Shastri were complementing each other seamlessly as the openers. Young Azharuddin, who made a memorable debut for India just 1 ½ months ago, put up a good show in the middle order. Gavaskar was playing his part to perfection in the middle order and in the last phase of his career, was a more relaxed hitter of the ball.
Kapil was as accurate with the ball as usual and he was chipping in with the bat as well during crunch situations. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan was brilliant with his leg-breaks and Ravi Shastri was supporting him well with his left-arm slow orthodox spin. At the top of all these, debutant wicketkeeper S Vishwanath was electrifying behind the stumps.
Shastri was adjudged the player of the tournament for his all-round show and won a swanky Audi car. I still remember how Indian players, hanging all over the Audi, roamed around the Melbourne Cricket Ground after the final match. India told the world in a loud and clear tone that its victory 20 months ago in 1983 was no fluke.
One last thing. Before the tournament started, Gavaskar declared that this would be his last outing for India as captain and he would step down after the tournament. India won and the great man signed off in grand style, which he deserved.
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