The aura of Kapil Dev’s 175 against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup lives on.
To see is to believe. Quite literally perhaps, for that must be the main reason why Adam Gilchrist’s thunderous hundred in the 2007 World Cup final against Sri Lanka was proclaimed the best-ever knock in the quadrennial event by Castrol Index Ratings. Other notable contenders included Aravinda De Silva’s match-winning hundred in the 1996 event against Australia and Clive Lloyd’s 102 versus England in 1975, the first World Cup.
But talk World Cup and an Indian cricket fan’s thoughts go back to 1983. India would never have made the final on June 25 but for Kapil Dev’s epoch-making hundred seven days earlier. On June 18, the Indian team had turned up at Tunbridge Wells needing to beat Zimbabwe to stay on in the hunt for a semi-final place. “I had a look at the pitch early on and it appeared quite damp. I remember Kapil discussing with me what to do if he won the toss. Bat first and put pressure on the opposition, was my answer. I don’t know if he followed my advice but he did choose to bat first. That was the beginning of trouble,” says senior journalist and the former cricketer’s close friend, R Mohan.
The Indians were reeling at 9 for 4 when Kapil went in to bat. Before he had settled in, the score read 17 for 5 as Yashpal Sharma walked back with nine runs to his name. Says Balwinder Sandhu, who was part of the 1983 World Cup team: “The wickets went so quickly that we could not even come up with a counter plan. We could not believe what was happening; batsmen were walking out, getting out and coming back. Finally, Roger Binny went in and stayed some time in the middle with Kapil. We thought even if we get 125-150 on board, we could fight for the match. Then Syed Kirmani got going and put up a partnership with him, and Madan Lal in the lower order contributed as well.”
“The thing about Kapil was that he took a lot of responsibility to win us matches. He always wanted to lead from the front and this was perhaps a tailor-made opportunity for him,” adds Madan Lal. In their company, Kapil had quietly taken the team to 140 for 8. “We were all superstitious in the dressing room when he was batting,” says Sandhu. “No one moved from where they were standing just so he wouldn’t get out,” he adds. Kapil’s innings was the catalyst for India winning the World Cup. “It was the greatest innings anyone can ever watch, but sadly it was not recorded,” laments Sandhu.
Yes, the irony of it all. The BBC were short-staffed that day because of a strike and whatever resources they had available were diverted to the other match being played in London between Australia and West Indies.
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One assumes this glitch only adds to the legend of that World Cup victory and to the magic of Kapil’s innings. It is singularly remarkable that an innings not captured for re-runs and living only in the memory of those few hundred present back then at the ground is the one that has shaped the way cricket is worshipped and indeed watched by millions in this country and across the globe.
It might also explain why Kapil’s innings does not rank as the best, for you cannot play it back. There is no replay button. And so, when a few more knocks have been added to the greatest innings’ list years down the line, Gilchrist, De Sliva and Lloyd will probably get moved down the order. But the aura of the ‘ghost hundred’ will never diminish.
(Chetan Narula is a Delhi-based freelance writer)