1983 – Cricket's greatest underdog story, scripted by Kapil's Devils

To say that nobody gave India a chance to even be at Lord's on the day of the final, never mind actually lifting the trophy on the famous balcony, would be a serious understatement.

In fact, some of the Indian players had looked at the World Cup in England as an opportunity for sightseeing. "India were nowhere in contention," wrote Sandeep Patil, part of that triumphant side, in 2015. "The team had hardly performed well in the previous two editions. So as we left India, virtually all of us were in a holiday mood. Cricket was not the first thing on our minds.

"More than thinking about facing Malcolm Marshall, Bob Willis and Jeff Thomson, we were engrossed in planning our sightseeing activities. After getting to London, we were excited to see Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square."

Their record coming into the third edition of the Cricket World Cup was far from envious – India had won just one match, against East Africa, out of six in the first two editions.

Their record that year before the commencement of the World Cup wasn't great either, with a solitary win in four games against Pakistan and West Indies.

Despite the numbers being against them, India made a brilliant start to the tournament with a win over favourites West Indies in their first game. Yashpal Sharma's 89 helped India to 262 in 60 overs. In response, West Indies were bundled out for 228, with Ravi Shastri and Roger Binny picking three wickets each.

That was not the only upset on the day; at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, Zimbabwe, playing their first-ever World Cup match, defeated Australia, thus giving India a little more hope of going past the group stage.

India made it two wins out of two by defeating Zimbabwe in their next game. Led by Madan Lal's 3/27 and Syed Kirmani's brilliant work with the gloves where he took five catches, India restricted Zimbabwe to 155 before a 79-run partnership between Mohinder Amarnath and Sandeep Patil guided them to victory.

For a team that was not expected to make it to the semi-finals, India suddenly found themselves at the top of their group. That, perhaps, brought in some complacency and it showed in the two subsequent matches where they were humbled by Australia and West Indies.

Australia posted a daunting target of 321 for India to chase down, thanks to a sensational century from Trevor Chappell, who was well supported by half-centurions Kim Hughes and Graham Yallop. India crumbled under the pressure of the total as they were skittled out for just 158.

India then ran into a West Indies side that had started to build up steam after their loss in their tournament opener.

Playing their second round-robin match against India, West Indies posted 282/9 on the back of Viv Richards' 119. India never recovered from the early strikes and only managed to get to 216, with only four players getting to double figures. Mohinder Amarnath fought a lone battle with an innings of 80 but found little support at the other end.

A team that was at the top of the table on 11 June were now staring at a World Cup exit four days later.

India faced Zimbabwe in a virtual knock-out in Tunbridge Wells, in a match that went down in cricketing folklore (and trivia) for several reasons.

After opting to bat first, India were reduced to 9/4 when captain Kapil Dev walked into bat, with their hopes of making it to the World Cup semi-finals as bleak as they could be.

What followed was what is still regarded as one of the greatest ODI knocks in history. With the team staring a third consecutive defeat, Kapil Dev bailed India out with a stunning 175* that came off just 138 balls, a knock studded with 16 fours and six sixes.

It was then the highest individual score in ODI cricket and with Syed Kirmani, Kapil stiched the then highest partnership for the ninth wicket in ODIs with a stand of 126. Teetering at 17/5 at one stage, India posted 266/8 at the end of the innings.

The biggest travesty was that only the people in attendance at the Nevill Ground in Tunbridge Wells got an opportunity to witness history before their eyes as the match was not televised at the time.

Kevin Curran's 73 did threaten to take the game away from India but Kapil's men managed to hold their nerve, living to fight another day with a 31-run win.

His innings rubbed off on the rest of his teammates and breathed a new lease of life into India's campaign. The effects were evident in their next game against Australia, which again was a virtual knockout.

There were no standout players with the bat, but all the batters chipped in with valuable contributions en-route India's 247. The pace trio Madan Lal, Roger Binny and Balwinder Sandhu were too hot to handle for Australia, who were all out for 129. India, against all odds, booked a berth in the semi-finals against England.

The home side, having cruised to the semi-finals having lost just one of their six matches, were difficult opponents. England were cruising along after opting to bat before Amarnath was called upon by his skipper to put the brakes on. He stifled the batters with his medium pace and even got the invaluable scalps of David Gower, the highest run-scorer in the 1983 World Cup, and Mike Gatting.

His spell derailed all the momentum and England, who were 141/3 at one point, were bowled out for 213. The Indian openers Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth then provided the team with a solid foundation, putting on 46 for the opening wicket.

Amarnath, having already worked his magic with the ball, made a difference with a bat as well with an innings of 46. Half-centuries from Yashpal Sharma and Sandeep Patil got India across the line with more than five overs to spare as India booked a date with West Indies for the third time in the tournament – this time in the finals.

West Indies were the odds-on favourite to win the trophy for the third time in a row. What stood in their way was an Indian team that was scripting history with every step they took in the tournament.

On a green track, having been put to bat first against the bowling line-up comprising Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall, there weren't many ways India's innings could have gone. They were bundled out for a meagre 183, with Srikkanth top-scoring with 38.

Kapil, however, refused to give up. During the innings break, he said: "Team, if this is not a winning total, then it’s definitely a fighting total.”

India needed early wickets to stay in the game and Sandhu answered his captain's call, dismissing Gordon Greenidge for 1. The wicket brought the dangerous Viv Richards to the crease, and it didn't take him too long to stamp his authority on the game.

India looked all at sea as Richards took the game away from them as he smashed seven boundaries, including three in an over off Madan Lal. India's faint World Cup hopes started to dwindle.

Despite being taken to the cleaners by Richard, Madan Lal snatched the ball from his skipper for one more over, as Kapil later narrated. "The best part about that dismissal was Madan Lal's urge to bowl that particular over," Kapil later recounted. "Madan Lal literally snatched the ball from my hands and went on to bowl that over. When someone has so much confidence, you give in."

It took a moment of sheer individual brilliance on the field to dismiss Richards, and the way he was batting, it definitely needed something spectacular from India to see his back.

Richards mistimed a pull shot and Kapil, who was at mid-wicket, ran backwards to take a stunning catch at deep square to dismiss the West Indies talisman.

Lady Luck soon shone for India as skipper Clive Lloyd injured his hamstring off the very first ball of his innings. His struggle too came to an end as he was dismissed in tame fashion for 8.

West Indies found themselves in unfamiliar territory at 66/5 and the one person who had shown how to bounce back from such a situation was captaining the opposition side.

Jeff Dujon's 43-run stand with Marshall only delayed the inevitable as Amarnath cleaned up the tail – India beat the mighty West Indies by 43 runs to script history at Lord's.

Amarnath, who was the Player of the Match in the semi-final, was awarded the Player of the Match in the finals, and still remains the only player to achieve that feat apart from Sri Lanka's Aravinda De Silva in 1996.

The trophy was much more than just silverware for India. The visuals of Kapil Dev hoisting the World Cup trophy in the Lord's balcony inspired the next generation of cricketers, like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, and dared them to dream.

After the final, West Indies captain Clive Lloyd said, "Indian cricket has arrived. And it's here to stay."

Those words have proven to be prophetic.****