It’s been 38 years to this day when India became the ODI World Champions beating the then two-time defending champions in a historic final. India weren’t even among the favourites but a young captain in Kapil Dev led them to a triumph that would go on to revolutionise the game in India and sow the seeds of the country becoming a powerhouse that it is today.
The Indian cricket team recalled the ‘historic’ day with a picture of Kapil receiving the trophy after his team’s stunning win over West Indies at Lord’s.
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" A historic day for the Indian cricket team as the @therealkapildev-led #TeamIndia lifted the World Cup Trophy," the caption of the image read.
India opened the tournament with a confidence-boosting win over West Indies by 34 runs and in their next, they beat Zimbabwe by five wickets. However, their campaign suffered twin jolts with back-to-back defeats against Australia (162 runs) and West Indies (66 runs).
The team regained momentum with a a remarkable performance against Zimbabwe thanks to Kapil’s 175* as he singlehandedly lifted India from the depths of 17/5 to 266/8 in 60 overs. India went on to win by 31 runs.
India crushed Australia by 118 runs before beating hosts England in the semifinal to book a date with West Indies.
Batting first, India were bowled out for a low 183 in 54.4 overs with opener Kris Srikkanth making 38 - the highest individual score of the innings. For West Indies, Sir Andy Roberts picked 3/32 while Malcolm Marshal, Michael Holding and Larry Gomes took two wickets each.
West Indies lost their first wicket for just five runs before recovering to 50/1. However, from thereon, India kept landing regular blows with Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal taking three wickets each.
West Indies were bowled out for 140 in 52 overs as India completed a dramatic 43-run win to become the second ever ODI World Cup champions and first from Asia.
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