MUMBAI – Bollywood’s retelling of the 1983 World Cup hit cinemas Friday, recalling a stunning underdog victory that was instrumental in turning India into the cricket-crazy nation it is today.
Captained by Kapil Dev, seen now as one of cricket’s best-ever players, India began the tournament in England as rank outsiders but ended up triumphing over the all-conquering West Indies in the final at a raucous Lord’s.
The victory “was the turning point of how we saw ourselves as a cricketing nation, and… that incredible win fed into the veins of a country that till then had seen itself as also-rans on and off the cricket field,” the Indian Express daily said ahead of the release of “83”.
“The next morning, banner headlines screamed ‘The Cup Is Ours’, and nothing was ever the same. It was a blood rush to beat all blood rushes,” the paper said.
The first sign that India meant business was in the group stage of the tournament when Dev made 175 not out — with India has been on the ropes at 17 for 5 — against Zimbabwe.
A BBC strike on the day meant this extraordinary exploit was not filmed but hallowed cricketing almanac Wisden called it “one of the most spectacular innings played in this form of cricket”.
