Almost 36 years since they lifted the historic trophy at the Lord’s balcony, four stars of the 1983 World Cup came together to cherish a journey that continues to remain fresh in their memory even today.
Captain Kapil Dev along with teammates Roger Binny, Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Syed Kirmani reunited at the launch of the iconic ‘Britannia Khao, World Cup Jao’ campaign in Bengaluru on Tuesday, 2 April.
Going into the quadrennial tournament, India had not won a World Cup game in 8 years, let alone making the final. But as the ever-ebullient Srikkanth – the highest scorer in that World Cup final admitted – there was one man who believed in that 14-man squad when no one else did – Kapil Dev.
‘Kapsy’ as he lovingly calls him, was the only one who “really believed before the tournament started, that we could beat the mighty West Indians in the opening game at Old Trafford in Manchester. The rest of the team may have thought he was crazy, but he believed in us”.
And well, India kicked-off their campaign with a 34-run win after bowling the Windies batsman out for 228.
Kapil Dev, the legend who has consistently been credited with India’s glorious campaign in England that summer, said it wasn’t confidence but positivity that helped him motivate the Men in Blue.
“They say if you’re a 70 percent burn victim, and you have a will to live, you will live. And if you’re burnt 30 percent, but have no will to live, you will die that very moment. I think it’s important that with whatever team you have you should make them believe ‘we can do it’.”Kapil Dev
He added, “I wasn’t over-confident, but we had defeated West Indies in their country just 3 weeks before that. That’s the first time West Indies lost to any team in West Indies – so once you get the taste you can start convincing yourself that if we can beat them in their backyard, we can do it again. As a captain, you just have to make sure to rub those positive words and it will make sense.
‘I Would Pay Rs 50 Crore for Kapil’
Right through the duration of the event on Tuesday, Kris would give his own two bits while his teammates answered. And during once such instance, when Kapil Dev was giving his two bits about the top all-rounders of the current era, Srikkanth jumped in.
“In the final bidding for an IPL auction, for Kapil Dev Nikhanj, I’d give Rs 50 crore.”
He further said, “I have to add on my dear friends, it’s nothing to do with the factory of Kapil Dev, but purely as a cricket commentator, a cricket analyst, former cricketer, former captain, whatever you want to say – you will never-ever get an all-rounder like Kapil Dev”.
And he concluded the “genuine comment, not flattery”, with a “Tussi great ho Paaji (You’re great big brother).
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