It was on 25th June 1983, India stunned the cricketing fraternity with its incredible win against the mighty West Indies. India had changed the course of cricketing history, by winning the 1983 World Cup. Officially, it was called the Prudential World Cup 1983.
According to a popular cricket historian David Edward Frith, Indian cricket team was below average. He thought Indian team shouldn’t be allowed to play in the tournament during Prudential World Cup 1983.
The World Cup tourney was hosted by England and the 27 matches were played between two groups of 4 participants each. Group A consisted of England, Pakistan, New Zealand & Sri Lanka and Group B had West Indies, India, Australia & Zimbabwe. India was in group B which had both the powerful cricket teams of that time.
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Earlier, there was hardly any facility that could make the information available regarding cricket teams, players or even the matches. There were several untold stories that remained unheard even after many years of World Cup victory. Winning the World Cup was a proud moment and it remained memorable but knowing the unknown facts about the World Cup will also be interesting and enjoyable for you!!
Strange facts about the Prudential World Cup 1983:
- On the day, when the Indian team left for England to participate in the tournament, the team was without a coach, a doctor or even a physiotherapist.
- The premier airline of India, Air India had asked BCCI to pay two bills separately. One bill was for carrying the cricketers and another bill was to carry luggage & the cricket kit of the Indian team.
- The Prudential World Cup 1983 was played in England from June 9th to June 25th and during the entire tournament, there was only one BCCI official present among the players.
- Kapil Dev along with Sunil Gavaskar looked after the team in the absence of coach and manager. They managed every task well from scheduling the practice session to personally attending the players for any issues.
- Mohinder Amarnath shouldered the responsibility of deciding bowling and batting orders of the team during practice.
- Mohinder Amarnath, who won man of the Match award in the final, was awarded a cash prize of Pounds 600 after the match.
- According to BCCI, the players were paid Rs.12, 500 for every match during the tournament. But soon after winning the Prudential World Cup 1983, a prize of Rs. 2 Lakh was announced by BCCI for the entire team. But most of the players weren’t happy about it and decided to refuse it.
- After the Prudential World Cup 1983 victory, BCCI was planning to facilitate Captain of the team Kapil Dev and his winning team but were short of money. The BCCI President NKP Salve had to request to Lata Mangeshkar, the Nightingale of India, to raise the funds for the winners of the World cup.
- Lata didi, then arranged a musical concert at Delhi, where she managed to collect around Rs.20 Lakh for BCCI. The collected money was distributed among the winning Indian team during felicitation ceremony.
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Winning the World Cup in 1983 was one of the most dramatic moments of the Indian cricket that had not only made the world look at India with respect but it had inspired hundreds of young minds who started playing the game of cricket with passion and love for the country.
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