There?s little doubt that come Wednesday, 25 June, and the entire nation of a billion plus cricket fans will go back 25 years, to that moment of unadulterated joy when Mohinder Amarnath trapped Michael Holding lbw, darted down the pitch, pulled up a stump and ran his happiest sprint to the pavilion. While that moment changed Indian and world cricket forever and its impact has since been analysed over and over again, little has been done to review the other side of the story. What did the West Indians feel about this upset Indian win? What impact did it have on West Indian cricket? Does this upset Indian win still hurt Clive Lloyd and his teammates as one of the worst of
their careers?
These are some of the questions I posed to every past West Indian great while trying to look back at the events of 25 June 1983. Is it something they have deliberately tried to distance themselves from? Was it a bad dream, which is not to be spoken about, or was it something they had anticipated, something, which wasn?t a miracle after all. Among the 15 or so West Indians interviewed, it was most fascinating to hear skipper
Clive Lloyd and wicket-keeper Jeffery Dujon.
For Dujon it was just a bizarre day. He was insistent that 25 June 1983 was different, a day when he had a feeling that something funny would happen. In fact, while returning to the pavilion after having bowled India out for a paltry 183, the West Indians hardly rejoiced. Rather, Dujon remembers mentioning to Andy Roberts that he was convinced the West Indians would struggle to overhaul the relatively small target. ?I am not a superstitious person in that sense. But that day was different. I knew we would struggle and Andy agreed with me. I had struggled hard to bring the match back in our favour but could not help but edge that ball onto my stumps. The gods were with India, you see. The cricket world was destined
to change.?
For Clive Lloyd, 1983 still evokes a sense of deep sadness, a painful memory that he relives almost every day. He was emphatic in declaring that there was no question of complacency. The West Indies had lost to India in the opening round of the tournament and knew what Kapil and his men were capable of. It was just that the final was a bad day, a day when nothing worked for them. In hindsight, Lloyd, however, feels that 1983 was great for world/Indian cricket. Finally, the notion that the West Indians could be beaten had seeped in and sub-continental cricket would never be the same again. ?Even when we beat the Indians convincingly in the winter of 1983, we knew that it was only a matter of time before India became a cricketing superpower. The self-belief the World Cup victory had given Indian cricket had little parallel. It was great for your cricket.? In hindsight, we all know it indeed was. 25 June 1983, by all accounts, started a transformation in world cricket. With IPL et al, the process is now complete.
The writer is teaches at La Trobe University