Kapil Dev’s famous innings of scoring 175 runs against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup is in amongst the great innings in the history of one-day cricket. But while that was happening with Kapil on the field, there was a lot happening in the Indian dressing room too.
India taught learned a big lesson on the 18th of June, 1983 when the score stood at 17 for 5 and Kapil walked into the arena to bat. He turned the game completely in his sides favor with aggressive batting and scored 175 runs off 138 balls, out of which he hit 16 fours and 6 sixes.
His rest parts innings contributed in postulating a tricky target of 266/8 and not only was Kapil’s knock the pillar for an important win but also was the turning stone in the quests of India’s 1st ever World Cup victory.
Syed Kirmani of the World Cup winning team in the 1983 World Cup described a funny situation which rose from the winning match.
I was in the locker room when I had a slice of toast in my mouth and a towel wrapped around me. Suddenly, I heard someone yelling from outside ‘Hey Kiri, pad up’. It is stereotyped that boys do this to make fun of you so I did not want to pay attention to that shout. In a span of three minutes again someone roared out – Oye kya kar raha hai yaar pad up.
‘’So I did what I held on to my towel with toast on my teeth and checked the number on the scoreboard, it was 17/5. My toast & towel fell down on the ground. I turned towards my left and then my right. And believe me, no room was occupied in the dressing area,” said Kirmani.
India eventually managed to wrap up the game by 31 runs with Zimbabwe folding for 235 runs.
In the final, courageous India chased down a target of 275 runs successfully, beating the formidable West Indices by a margin of 43 runs and in the process add a first time World Cup trophy to its cabinet.
