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How did India manage to win the 1983 World Cup?

Major said:
so if non Indian calls it a fluke you admit to getting senti? Cause you yourself said it non Indian.

I think you need to go around the thread or even the forum, i have said that 1992 and 1996 was a fluke.
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Nope not senti, just amused you call out selectively on derailing of threads....

I don't need to go around to know your bias and jaundiced views
 
NishanKonar said:
Not a fluke but a big upset. Nobody before the tournament expected India to win

Its like Greece winning 2004 Euro or Porto winning 2004 UCL. Out of the blue
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Greece 2004 was the boring though disciplined, rank mediocre team playing ultra defensive, scored a goal and parked the bus in front of the goal.

India weren't disciplined or efficient in 83 except for when defending in the finals...unlikely comparison.

If anything Indian bowling clutched peaked showed intent, dilairi, junoon whatever you want to call in the final
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Yeh I think this is a better definition..fluke is not a bad word but can have connotations of it being undeserving, which I don't feel anyone thinks is the case.
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There is a difference between winning a lottery (fluke) and making an high risk or calculated investment that May or may not work.

Fluke can’t be explained. You can’t plan for rain etc. However you can plan and try to win against all odds with a strategy even if odds are stacked against you.

That’s the point. If people just want to use the word fluke for the sake it, no worries.

The Indian team was not as bad as people thought it was. it had continued success in the era post-83- . Indian team may have been underestimated by the cricket media at that time. However, on track record while they were underdogs for sure, but looking at the team combo, some of the players who fit the odi game perfectly, and great conditions for the team’s combo are worked which are all calculated decisions that aligned.
 
nish_mate said:
Greece 2004 was the boring though disciplined, rank mediocre team playing ultra defensive, scored a goal and parked the bus in front of the goal.

India weren't disciplined or efficient in 83 except for when defending in the finals...unlikely comparison.

If anything Indian bowling clutched peaked showed intent, dilairi, junoon whatever you want to call in the final
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Point is nobody except Everton Weekes predicted India to win. Nobody had any expectations
 
NishanKonar said:
Point is nobody except Everton Weekes predicted India to win. Nobody had any expectations
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Take into account how racist the English media was towards Indian or even subcontinent players in general. It may have not come from any cricketing analysis.

I kinda feel similar about some Indian cricket media these days, thok denge pel denge, while India is much better than most rival teams (don’t want to use specific countries because seems to be driving people up the wall) , the gulf isn’t that huge like how the WI team or Aus team were and an upset comes back to embarrass us many times.
 
Local.Dada said:
Take into account how racist the English media was towards Indian or even subcontinent players in general. It may have not come from any cricketing analysis.

I kinda feel similar about some Indian cricket media these days, thok denge pel denge, while India is much better than most rival teams (don’t want to use specific countries because seems to be driving people up the wall) , the gulf isn’t that huge like how the WI team or Aus team were and an upset comes back to embarrass us many times.
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Nobody from India had any expectation either. Team had booked return tickets after group stage
 
Local.Dada said:
There is a difference between winning a lottery (fluke) and making an high risk or calculated investment that May or may not work.

Fluke can’t be explained. You can’t plan for rain etc. However you can plan and try to win against all odds with a strategy even if odds are stacked against you.

That’s the point. If people just want to use the word fluke for the sake it, no worries.

The Indian team was not as bad as people thought it was. it had continued success in the era post-83- . Indian team may have been underestimated by the cricket media at that time. However, on track record while they were underdogs for sure, but looking at the team combo, some of the players who fit the odi game perfectly, and great conditions for the team’s combo are worked which are all calculated decisions that aligned.
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If team india was not as bad why were return tickets booked before the semis?

You keep on missing the point.
 
Local.Dada said:
There is a difference between winning a lottery (fluke) and making an high risk or calculated investment that May or may not work.

Fluke can’t be explained. You can’t plan for rain etc. However you can plan and try to win against all odds with a strategy even if odds are stacked against you.

That’s the point. If people just want to use the word fluke for the sake it, no worries.

The Indian team was not as bad as people thought it was. it had continued success in the era post-83- . Indian team may have been underestimated by the cricket media at that time. However, on track record while they were underdogs for sure, but looking at the team combo, some of the players who fit the odi game perfectly, and great conditions for the team’s combo are worked which are all calculated decisions that aligned.
Click to expand...
Did india pick that squad on purpose or was it that everything fell in line?

Another way to phrase that question, would India today pick a line up of military medium pacers for same conditions world cup (england)?

The obvious answer is no, they didnt have such luxury, and that is what Kapil complained about that India lacked pacers at the time. Its just that the world cup happened in England that fitted well with their bowling line up chosen.
 
I think 1983 was the mother of all flukes.

It also made cricket popular in India and resulted in Indians hijacking cricket.

1983 WC was the biggest tragedy in cricket's history (in hindsight). :inti:inti
 
A couple of interesting facts about this World Cup:

1. Nobody in India expected the team to reach the final. After the semis, we had to beg the BBC to "borrow" a satellite feed so we could broadcast the game back in India.

2. After we won the cup, the BCCI didn't have any prize money to offer the players. So they arranged a Lata Mangeshkar concert, and the money they collected through ticket sales was distributed to the players.
 
sweep_shot said:
I think 1983 was the mother of all flukes.

It also made cricket popular in India and resulted in Indians hijacking cricket.

1983 WC was the biggest tragedy in cricket's history (in hindsight). :inti:inti
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Why this 🤡 hurting badly? If You can't add anything then stay quiet and read the story from the people's who witnessed the all the things leading up to victory.

:shh:kp
 
Major said:
If team india was not as bad why were return tickets booked before the semis?

You keep on missing the point.
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They didn’t have the confidence in themselves at the start. Duh!!!

When they started winning especially beating WI and Aus, they stuck with what their strategy, had a good enough team that had county experience and favorable conditions and played some clutch cricket to win key moments.

What is your point to begin with that I am missing?
 
shaz619 said:
But this was maybe the greatest upset in WC history because the gap was much wider between WI & everyone else, plus India lost frequently, although they didn’t play too many series at home.

While Lanka was starting to change how ODI’s were being played & innovated to be success, they were starting to beat some big names between 1995-1996, so in that regard, India winning in 1983 was maybe the biggest underdog tournament win.
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Agreed. Anyone who has watched the 96 World Cup would know that SL was one of the favorites
 
Varun said:
A couple of interesting facts about this World Cup:

1. Nobody in India expected the team to reach the final. After the semis, we had to beg the BBC to "borrow" a satellite feed so we could broadcast the game back in India.

2. After we won the cup, the BCCI didn't have any prize money to offer the players. So they arranged a Lata Mangeshkar concert, and the money they collected through ticket sales was distributed to the players.
Click to expand...
How much cricket has changed since these days
 
NishanKonar said:
A very important fact - the great West Indies of the 80s never won test series in New Zealand coz of the green seaming pitches. They had a weakness on such pitches
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WI did hammer England in five tours from 1973 to 1988 so not sure whether green, seaming pitches were an issue but yeah I always found it a strange anomaly they never cracked New Zealand away (who interestingly never lost a home Test series in the 1980s) - although they argue Fred Goodall and the Kiwi umpires had something to do with that.

There's a great documentary recently released on Cricket New Zealand's YouTube channel about the 1979/80 series, and how unbelievably contentious it was. Some of the decisions were shocking although some of the reactions from the WI players were equally so - imagine the uproar if someone shoulder barged an umpire in today's social media era !

Cricinfo (when they did journalism) also did a long piece and apparently NZ's umpires weren't fully professionalised back then. Fred Goodall was a teacher (as the WI players continually reminded him) and his eyes simply weren't used to high pace bowling. WI can't complain though because the Caribbean umpires could be equally biased and easily intimidated.

That series came after a long tour of Australia and was seen as an afterthought. Viv didn't travel and NZ weren't expected to pose a challenge. However WI returned in 86-87, Viv this time in tow, and still drew 1-1.
 
One of the things I found unbelievable to read was that prior to 1983, India had only won one World Cup game (against minnows East Africa).

The betting odds of winning in 1983 must have been wild.
 
Major said:
Did india pick that squad on purpose or was it that everything fell in line?

Another way to phrase that question, would India today pick a line up of military medium pacers for same conditions world cup (england)?

The obvious answer is no, they didnt have such luxury, and that is what Kapil complained about that India lacked pacers at the time. Its just that the world cup happened in England that fitted well with their bowling line up chosen.
Click to expand...

Indian team 83 core
Kris Srikkanth- One of the most attacking opening batsmen in India. He declined quickly but he was a crowd puller in his day. Auto pick for Lois.

Gavaskar- Legend

Vengaskar- 3 100s in England. Indian ATG.

Ravi Shastri- one of India’s finest allrounders.

Kapil Dev- auto pick for ODIs

Madan Lal- experienced Indian pacer, used to play a lot of county cricket.

Roger Binny- one of the best pacers in domestics.

Sandeep Patil- another dashing batsman famous for hitting Bob Willis I think for 6 4’s back to back.

Yashpal Sharma/ Kirti Azad- typical journeyman limited overs specialist bits and pieces players

Kirmani- one of Indias ATG keepers.

Sandhu- that delivery to Greenidge is why he was picked.

Can you help me understand why you think Indian selectors didn’t put any thought in picking this team?

Also one thing, Indian selectors always had a fetish for line and length trundlers. We did have some quick bowlers in domestics-

Yograj Singh- You know who he is. He is still sore about not being picked and political injustice as he claims but he was just too washed up by the time he got a chance.

Bharat Arun- became Indias bowling coach. Won us 2 series in Australia, scouted Md.Siraj, fasttracked Bumrah in tests. Did a lot of work on Hardik’s bowling.

Kuruvilla- you guys might remember him from that brutal Ijaz Ahmed assault in Lahore.

All these guys were given a chance after they were washed up and became trundlers.

So they always picked the best line and length trundlers available in the circuit. Once in a while it works. Remember how Mohanty used to run through Pak line up in Sahara cup. However he used to get tonked on flat pitches. In the 80s you could probably get away with it a lot more .

So yes. While definitely an underdog story. It’s one of those moneyball events in sports where the right combo, right strategy and some fighting team spirit comes together.
 
As per Kapil , it was mainly due to prior tours to West Indies and Pakistan. India was outplayed in both tours .But India were quite confident as the both teams are having the best bowlers.Kapil argued even india have beaten the West Indies in the league stage and no body notices it.
I think Haynes/another windies legend said, they should have successfully chased the target if its 283 .Imran later said that he will prefer the route of india to topple the rightful contenders and win the cup.Pak was supposed to do that in 87 but failed.92 was a different story though.
 
Local.Dada said:
Indian team 83 core
Kris Srikkanth- One of the most attacking opening batsmen in India. He declined quickly but he was a crowd puller in his day. Auto pick for Lois.

Gavaskar- Legend

Vengaskar- 3 100s in England. Indian ATG.

Ravi Shastri- one of India’s finest allrounders.

Kapil Dev- auto pick for ODIs

Madan Lal- experienced Indian pacer, used to play a lot of county cricket.

Roger Binny- one of the best pacers in domestics.

Sandeep Patil- another dashing batsman famous for hitting Bob Willis I think for 6 4’s back to back.

Yashpal Sharma/ Kirti Azad- typical journeyman limited overs specialist bits and pieces players

Kirmani- one of Indias ATG keepers.

Sandhu- that delivery to Greenidge is why he was picked.

Can you help me understand why you think Indian selectors didn’t put any thought in picking this team?

Also one thing, Indian selectors always had a fetish for line and length trundlers. We did have some quick bowlers in domestics-

Yograj Singh- You know who he is. He is still sore about not being picked and political injustice as he claims but he was just too washed up by the time he got a chance.

Bharat Arun- became Indias bowling coach. Won us 2 series in Australia, scouted Md.Siraj, fasttracked Bumrah in tests. Did a lot of work on Hardik’s bowling.

Kuruvilla- you guys might remember him from that brutal Ijaz Ahmed assault in Lahore.

All these guys were given a chance after they were washed up and became trundlers.

So they always picked the best line and length trundlers available in the circuit. Once in a while it works. Remember how Mohanty used to run through Pak line up in Sahara cup. However he used to get tonked on flat pitches. In the 80s you could probably get away with it a lot more .

So yes. While definitely an underdog story. It’s one of those moneyball events in sports where the right combo, right strategy and some fighting team spirit comes together.
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None of the players you listed could bat. They barely avg in the 30. Gavaskar was a test legend not odi.
 
Markhor said:
One of the things I found unbelievable to read was that prior to 1983, India had only won one World Cup game (against minnows East Africa).

The betting odds of winning in 1983 must have been wild.
Click to expand...

Yes. India was a minnow before 1983.

1983 propelled them to a more serious status. That sadly contributed to cricket's popularity in India and eventually ICC became BCCICC.

If Windies won the 1983 WC, India could've remained a weak team like Zimbabwe and cricket might not have taken off in India. 1983 WC final was a dark day for cricket. LOL. :yk
 
sweep_shot said:
Yes. India was a minnow before 1983.

1983 propelled them to a more serious status. That sadly contributed to cricket's popularity in India and eventually ICC became BCCICC.

If Windies won the 1983 WC, India could've remained a weak team like Zimbabwe and cricket might not have taken off in India. 1983 WC final was a dark day for cricket. LOL. :yk
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India was a minnow untill the emergence of Ganguly-Dalmiya era. We always struggled against countries like Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand in that period
 
Major said:
None of the players you listed could bat. They barely avg in the 30. Gavaskar was a test legend not odi.
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Gavaskar may not be an ODI legend but he improved vastly from '82 onwards to the end of his career.


Until '81 - average 21, strike 43

'82- '87 - average 39, strike rate 65 as opener

For comparison with contemporary openers , Greenidge was striking at 66 and Haynes at around 60.
 
Australia losing the opening match to Zimbabwe was also a turning point for India in 1983 and Kapil Dev 175.
 
sweep_shot said:
I think 1983 was the mother of all flukes.

It also made cricket popular in India and resulted in Indians hijacking cricket.

1983 WC was the biggest tragedy in cricket's history (in hindsight). :inti:inti
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Why? Were they saved by rain from getting knocked out of the tournament the way Pakistan were in the 92' WC?
 
People calling it fluke one off win in the final forget that India beat the same WI earlier in the first round too and that too convincingly. The scoreboard only looks decent for WI due to last wicket partnership. None of the WI batters were comfortable while facing Indian bowlers. Even the highest scoring batsman, Andy Roberts and Joel garner had several hit and misses. They tried to follow similar template in final. Batting didn't come off but the bowling did.

www.espncricinfo.com

IND vs WI Cricket Scorecard, 4th Match at Manchester, June 09 - 10, 1983

Live Cricket Scoreboard: Get India vs West Indies 4th Match, cricket scorecard, Prudential World Cup 1983 dated June 09 - 10, 1983.
www.espncricinfo.com www.espncricinfo.com

India had a great team for those kinds of pitches. Bowlers like Binny, Madan lal who can bowl steady and contribute with bat were made for those conditions. Amarnath and were phenomenal. Kapil scored 300+ runs at a strike rate of close to 110, which was much better than even Richards at his peak. Kapil also took 10+ wickets, fielded like a cheetha and lead the team from the front. This is arguably the greatest all round performance in an ICC tournament, comparable/better than Yuvraj(2011), Klusner (1999), Steve Waugh (1987) in bat and ball while captaining a not so fancied side. It was a great team effort where they beat the best team of the tournament twice in three attempts.
 
Major said:
I recently rewatched ranveer singhs film, 1983, the movie is on netflix and its about the 1983 world cup. It is the best cricket movie ever made till date with the bowling actions, batting strokes and the story telling.

However, one major thing the movie missed was how India won the world cup, as the movie was more focused on Kapils lack of English speaking skills, and making British the villians. The movie never talked about the thought process behind the selection of players, the strategies they were focusing on, and what really united and motivated the team.

When you dig deeper in the 1983 score world cup cards, you notice that it is a true under dog story, as not a single person from the India side avged 40 with the bat. All the indian batters were avging near 30 with strike rates below 70, while Kapil was the only player who had a strike rate near the 90s at that time with the same batting avg. Gavaskar i think was avging 35 but he sucked during the whole world cup, and he was their main batsman.

The score cards suggest that it was Yashpal Sharma that held the batting line up from the top, along with Mohinder Amarnath, and Kapil Sharma from the lower end.
While the bowling attack was way worse, as Kapil was the only proper pacer the team had. Roger binny and mohinder amarnath seemed to bowl millitary medium pace.

Interestingly, Amarnath would be the guy who would win the semi finals and finals.

But when you look at these makeshift players playing against the West Indies, Australia and England, it is a marvelous to defeat these sides. They defeated West Indies twice, Australia and England once, along with a win against Zimbabwe.

So how did they pull it off? The movie didnt show this, but what was the uniting factor, what was the strategy they adopted?

My guess is, Indias medium and slow paced bowlers ended up getting better grip on the English wickets which are known to assist medium pacers.

Also, how did India defended the world cup final score of 180 aswell? Becuase pakistan made a same score against West Indies in the semi, and Viv smashed them around? How did the Indies collapse to Indias bowler? Especially that Singh guy who was avging near 50s with the ball?
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Beautiful movie.
As a patriot and as a die-hard cricket fan, some of the moment sin the film were truly emotional. Those were the days India was an after thought as a nation with no political, economic and even disapora clout of the level it has today. The players played with all heart, led by a maverick young captain in Kapil who played one of the greatest if not the single greatest knock ever.

When the movie ended with the victory in the final and they played the music and showed real footage of the 1983 squad it was phenomenal to watch and experience that in the theatre.

From 3: 20 onwards
:heart:









It happened because the squad gave all their heart and soul to the cricket during that tournament.
 
N
BreadPakoda said:
Agreed. Anyone who has watched the 96 World Cup would know that SL was one of the favorites
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Naah. They did not start as favourites. Nobody thought they could win

It all changed after that game against India - suddenly the world realised it was a very different Sri Lanka team
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Gavaskar may not be an ODI legend but he improved vastly from '82 onwards to the end of his career.


Until '81 - average 21, strike 43

'82- '87 - average 39, strike rate 65 as opener

For comparison with contemporary openers , Greenidge was striking at 66 and Haynes at around 60.
Click to expand...
India hardly played any ODI until early 80s. They all looked at ODI as time pass cricket. At the start of 1983 world cup India had played the least amount of ODI cricket among all the test playing nations except SL, which had started playing test matches just an year back.
 
shaz619 said:
But this was maybe the greatest upset in WC history because the gap was much wider between WI & everyone else, plus India lost frequently, although they didn’t play too many series at home.

While Lanka was starting to change how ODI’s were being played & innovated to be success, they were starting to beat some big names between 1995-1996, so in that regard, India winning in 1983 was maybe the biggest underdog tournament win.
Click to expand...

It would be incredible if something like that were to happen again, a true underdog lifting the ODI World Cup. Moments like these remind you how rare and precious sporting miracles really are, and how far their ripples travel beyond the boundary ropes. They don’t just rewrite scorecards, they reshape the soul of the sport and sometimes even the trajectory of nations.

India’s 1983 triumph for instance, mattered far beyond cricket. Outside the sporting realm, it was a massive psychological boost for a young, aspirational nation. It helped break England’s monopoly over the tournament. Until then, England had hosted the first three ODI World Cups consecutively. The 1983 result effectively opened the door for the World Cup to move east, culminating in India hosting the tournament in 1987. In many ways, that single summer accelerated India’s rise as the centre of gravity in world cricket.

There’s also a haunting irony stitched into that final. For the West Indies, it was supposed to be just a bad day at the office for one of the greatest teams ever assembled. Instead, it quietly became a closing chapter. That 1983 final was the last time West Indies ever reached an ODI World Cup final. They remain frozen on two titles, the first two they won, with no return since.

What feels unsettling is how history can hinge on one afternoon. For India, it was a beginning. For West Indies, it turned out to be an end. A single upset didn’t just change a tournament, it rebalanced the global order of cricket, proving how thin the line is between dominance and decline.

That’s the power of underdog victories. They don’t just surprise. They alter destiny.
 
Bhaijaan said:
It would be incredible if something like that were to happen again, a true underdog lifting the ODI World Cup. Moments like these remind you how rare and precious sporting miracles really are, and how far their ripples travel beyond the boundary ropes. They don’t just rewrite scorecards, they reshape the soul of the sport and sometimes even the trajectory of nations.

India’s 1983 triumph for instance, mattered far beyond cricket. Outside the sporting realm, it was a massive psychological boost for a young, aspirational nation. It helped break England’s monopoly over the tournament. Until then, England had hosted the first three ODI World Cups consecutively. The 1983 result effectively opened the door for the World Cup to move east, culminating in India hosting the tournament in 1987. In many ways, that single summer accelerated India’s rise as the centre of gravity in world cricket.

There’s also a haunting irony stitched into that final. For the West Indies, it was supposed to be just a bad day at the office for one of the greatest teams ever assembled. Instead, it quietly became a closing chapter. That 1983 final was the last time West Indies ever reached an ODI World Cup final. They remain frozen on two titles, the first two they won, with no return since.

What feels unsettling is how history can hinge on one afternoon. For India, it was a beginning. For West Indies, it turned out to be an end. A single upset didn’t just change a tournament, it rebalanced the global order of cricket, proving how thin the line is between dominance and decline.

That’s the power of underdog victories. They don’t just surprise. They alter destiny.
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A lot of this is hindsight

West Indies came to India few months later & thrashed them badly - so much for new found confidence

West Indies still dominated till mid 90s in test cricket but their ODI record was never so great. Lost the 1985 WCC , knocked out of 1987 & 1992 WC. But again in that era the ODIs wer seen as secondary to test cricket
 
NishanKonar said:
A lot of this is hindsight

West Indies came to India few months later & thrashed them badly - so much for new found confidence

West Indies still dominated till mid 90s in test cricket but their ODI record was never so great. Lost the 1985 WCC , knocked out of 1987 & 1992 WC. But again in that era the ODIs wer seen as secondary to test cricket
Click to expand...

Point remains,
WI never made to an ODI WC final again.
They never won an ODI WC again.
 
Bhaijaan said:
It would be incredible if something like that

What feels unsettling is how history can hinge on one afternoon. For India, it was a beginning. For West Indies, it turned out to be an end. A single upset didn’t just change a tournament, it rebalanced the global order of cricket, proving how thin the line is between dominance and decline.

That’s the power of underdog victories. They don’t just surprise. They alter destiny.
Click to expand...
Bas Kar Yaar. We know you have two paragraphs about ancient brahmins and sanatani power for use later in the thread but stop here please bro thanks.
 
1987 World Cup happened in Sub Continent and West Indies players were not so good in playing in Sub continent compared to their favourite England.
 
Van_Sri said:
1987 World Cup happened in Sub Continent and West Indies players were not so good in playing in Sub continent compared to their favourite England.
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ODI cricket in 80s was like T20 in 2025. Due to reduced overs - the gap between 2 teams could be nullified & matches wer closer than actual gap in talent
 
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