On June 25, 1983, the Kapil Dev-led Indian team beat the mighty West Indies in a thriling final at the Lord's in London to become the World Champions for the first-time ever. The victory was way beyond just a sporting triumph. It instilled the belief in several Indians that Indians can not only compete with the rest of the world but even be the best in the world. The fact that they beat defending champions West Indies just adds to the magnitudue of what that win meant for the South East Asian nation.
There were several instances during India's 1983 World Cup campaign when it felt that perhaps it was too much to ask from the team to go on to lift the World Cup. At least stats, seemed to suggest that. India had not played too many of these 60-over ODIs before heading into this fixture. Moreover, their performance in the previous two editions of the tournament hadn't bene too inspiring either. Howevrr, this time kept on believing in themselves even when they had their backs against the wall, which they had quite a few times in thier campiagn including the final.
India had made just 183 in the titular contest which was not a massive score by any stretch of the imagination. However, they did fought in their defence of that score and perhaps that is one word that comes close to defining what their campaign was all about 40 years ago. Fight. Grit and not giving up. In the run chase, West Indies had lost the wicket of Gordon Greenidge early but Desmond Haynes and Viv Richards particularly the latter was looking in sublime nick, looking to take the game away from the opposition striking at over 117 while chasing a paltry score in a 60-over contest. However, both batters departed in quick succession, both falling to Madan Lal. It is Dev's catch running backwards to dismiss Richards that is part of India's cricketing folklore.
There was no looking back from there and India went on to emerge as the Champions beating the Windies side by 43 runs. Years revealed Sachin Tendulkar revealed that it was the iconic visual of Dev lifting the World Cup at the Lord's balcont that inspired him to take up the sport. It would be fair to say it inspired millions of Indians back in India and instilled them a belief like never before.