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The day that changed Indian cricket

The 25th June 1983, the home of cricket, Lords cricket ground witnessed one of the biggest upsets in the history of sport.
India, 50-to-one outsiders at the start of the Cricket World Cup, achieved the impossible, not only did they reach the final, they beat the great West Indies team full of stars, from Gordon Greenidge to Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards to Malcolm Marshall, to name a few.
The final at first looked like an anti-climax, India, who had beaten England by six wickets in the semi finals at Old Trafford, were bowled out for 183. When Viv Richards led his team to 50 for 1 in reply, it looked like another chance for the Caribbean camp to celebrate, but then all was about to change for India.
Captain Kapil Dev and the rest of the team became national heroes overnight.

I was there when India won the World Cup

Indian TV presenter Rajdeep Sardesai was one of the 20,000 fans who witnessed India win.
Rajdeep Sardesai, India fan at Lords in 1983: "There was no plan to go watch the final because there was no question of India getting to the final and frankly one day cricket had never taken off in India. 1983 was the turning point."

India fans celebrate at Lords in 1983
Sardesai was an 18-year-old student living in the UK in 1983, now a well-known TV presenter in India, he's one of the twenty thousand spectators that really can say " I was there when India won the World Cup."
"It was easy to get tickets because mainly Englishmen were giving up their tickets. In the first two World Cups, India only won one match against East Africa in 1975, we were otherwise no-hopers.
"There are two or three things you keep with you to tell your grandchildren and this is one of them. It was one of the best days of my life."
Balwinder Singh Sandu, Indian cricketer who played in the 1983 Final: "We were confident we could beat West Indies, since we had played against them in West Indies and beat them in the one day game and that gave us the confidence, we can beat them if we put them under pressure.
"Maybe the viewers or the media (were) not expecting us to win, but we in our heart we believed we could beat this team. "The whole team had that self belief."

"Most of India didn't expect us to reach the Final"

India's World Cup winning captain in 1983 Kapil Dev says they didn't expect win.
Sandhu played a significant role in the Indian team that day, not only as a bowler but with the bat.
Batting at No.11 in the final, he went to the crease alongside wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani, India were on 161 for 9, and Sandhu was desperate to get some more runs:
My friend decided I might as well go shopping than see India being humiliated
Rajdeep Sardesai, India fan at Lords in 1983
Balwinder Singh Sandu, Indian cricketer, 1983 Final: "When I went in to the middle I said to Kirani, don't throw your wicket, I'm going to stick around and if we can bat, we can put 30- 35 runs on the board, that was my plan, to stick around and we got those crucial 22 runs, I'm proud of those 22 runs and what I did as a bowler."
India were all out for 183, it's a scoreline that's synonymous now with the history of Indian cricket. Now walking back to the Lords pavilion, they were about to face one of the most formidable battling line-ups in cricket, West Indies were chasing 184 for victory from 60 overs:
"Kapil said okay boys we have got 183 they have to make it 183, let's go out there and fight it out and enjoy the game, that reduced the pressure, he just made us relax."
India captain Kapil Dev: "It wasn't a winning score, we were only thinking to get a couple of wickets. I think most of India didn't buy tickets because they didn't expect us to get to the final."
Back in the stands some India fans had already given up hope of a victory:
Rajdeep Sardesai, India fan at Lords in 1983: "My friend Yajurvindra Singh (former Indian Test player) decided 183 (total), I might as well go shopping for the afternoon than see India being humiliated by the West Indians. They were such a formidable team, I can actually understand where my friend was coming from."

India's World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar would go on to be household names in cricket, but for Sandhu he created one of the stand out moments in the final. He grabbed the key wicket of West Indies legend Gordon Greenidge, a wicket that appeared to give them confidence they could defend their meagre total:

West Indies batsman Gordon Greenidge
Balwinder Singh Sandu, Indian cricketer, 1983 Final: "I think that was the wicket of hope. In low scoring games if you get a wicket early it creates a self belief, it made us more determined that we can win this game.
"Gordon got out to me three times before that ball (in my career), what I had observed when I bowled my inswinger, he was not picking it up. I was bowling downhill and that day the wicket had a lot of juice and the ball was swinging.
"When Gordon came to strike I bowled my inswinger just to surprise him. Gordon tried to put his pad to stop the ball, but it hit the bails.
"He's a great player, I'm his fan, but even great players can get out and you can out think him."

"It was the wicket of hope"

India's Balwinder Singh Sandu says 1983 World Cup "was a turning point" in Indian cricket

"I prayed to God, get this wicket for us"

Balwinder Singh Sandu, Indian cricketer: "I was fielding at fine leg and West Indian spectators were pestering me, you won't win the World Cup, West Indians will win the World Cup and that's when I prayed to God, we have got nine batsmen out, now just get this wicket for us"
Sandu's prayer came true. Michael Holding was bowled lbw by Mohinder Armanath. West Indies were bowled out for 140, sparking huge celebrations:

India's 1983 winning team reunited in 2008
"God listened to those who like to fight and was kind on us. As the last wicket got out, I ran to pick up a wicket and got hold of a stump, which is still with me and still has the English soil on the stump. I was caught in the middle of the crowd, the crowd was trying to pull the stump from my hands, but I pushed my way through to the pavilion and everyone was celebrating."
Rajdeep Sardesai, India fan at Lords in 1983: "You're 18 and India has just won the World Cup beating the mighty West Indians, it took some time to sink in. I abandoned all pretence of being a gent and ran on to the pitch."
Kapil's Devils had changed the landscape of cricket in India forever.
Balwinder Singh Sandu, Indian cricketer: "When we landed in Bombay airport, the crowd was huge and then it hit us that we have done something big for Indian cricket. That 1983 win was a turning point in Indian cricket, until that time the belief was that we can't win big matches, but after that we started believing and lifted the self belief of all Indians."
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thank you :)