42 years of World Cup triumph: A day that made Indian cricket what it is

In the past four years, whenever 25 June comes around, the absence of one of the most vibrant members of the '83' WhatsApp group rankles the other 13.

It is now almost four years since Yashpal Sharma left this world, but there is not a single day that 'Yash paaji' isn't missed by his teammates. Just before Covid-19 hit, Yashpal, who was a selector for Punjab, had come to watch a Ranji Trophy match in Delhi and lamented to a couple of journalists about not having a recording of India's first match against the West Indies at Old Trafford, in which his 89 paved the way for an improbable 34-run win.

"I was ready to offer GBP 5,000 to anyone who had the recording. I didn't get it. That was perhaps my best ODI knock. It seemed Maco (Malcolm Marshall) had an unwritten deal with me. Mere aate hi do gaaend chhati pe maarta tha (the moment I came on, he would aim two deliveries at my chest)," Yashpal, who was the tournament's top scorer with 240 runs, fondly recollected on that December day.

That candour is deeply missed by his teammates. "Yes, he was a very popular member of the team and he is missed by every one of us," the legendary Sunil Gavaskar told PTI when asked about the only team member who is no longer with them.

The '83' WhatsApp group comprises the 14 members of that team and administrative manager P.R. Man Singh. Whether the team wins the Border-Gavaskar Trophy under Ravi Shastri or Roger Binny becomes BCCI president or for that matter Kirti Azad wins a Lok Sabha seat, the group is always buzzing. "We are in touch almost every day but most certainly today," Gavaskar said.

Back in 2008, the Vijay Mallya owned UB Group had organised the 25th anniversary celebrations at the iconic Lord's cricket ground, with all team members present on the ground's historic balcony. In 2023, the Adani Group had also felicitated the members on the 40th anniversary of the Cup win.

However, this time, with Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri busy with their media commitments for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and Dilip Vengsarkar also out of the country, the planned celebrations have been kept on hold. "We had planned one this year but with the current series we had to postpone it. We have had a few celebrations in other years too. Two years back on the 40th anniversary, the Adanis felicitated the team at their headquarters in Ahmedabad," Gavaskar recalled.

At least two more golden generations have also walked into the sunset since that day when the first seeds of a behemoth called Indian cricket were sown.

"...1983 was huge. Watching Kapil Dev, Sandhu, Madan Lal, Roger Binny, Sandeep Patil at Lord's was huge. It inspired us a lot to take up cricket," one of India's greatest captains, Sourav Ganguly, told PTI in a recent podcast.

The stories associated with the tournament are still fresh and told and retold to passing generations. The biggest myth that has become an oft-repeated tale is that BBC employees were on strike during Kapil's epic 175 not out against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells, that being the reason no video recording of that game exists.

In his book Myth Busters, veteran journalist Gulu Ezekiel explicitly stated that on that very day — 18 June 1983 — the BBC aired the England vs Pakistan game at Manchester and West Indies vs Australia at Lord's. It's just that the BBC crew did not consider India vs Zimbabwe a priority game.

Interestingly, that was the first and last ever international game played at the Tunbridge Wells ground, and that picturesque village field is now a pilgrimage for Indian fans.

Those who live around the 'stadium' have a Kapil Dev story to share for anyone who would care to listen. This correspondent met one such — a British gentleman who claimed that the house he bought from the original owner had a window pane smashed by a Kapil sixer.

Once the trophy had been won, a cash-strapped BCCI got in touch with 'India's nightingale' Lata Mangeshkar with a request for her to perform at a fundraiser which allowed the board to hand over a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh to each member of the victorious side. Mangeshkar was contacted by her good friend Raj Singh Dungarpur, who requested her to perform at a concert in Delhi.

As a token of gratitude, until her passing, Mangeshkar was entitled to two VIP tickets at any match that the Indian team played in the country.

They have all aged and some memories have become vague. Kapil, for example, was candid enough to tell young reporters recently that he doesn't remember anything from that historic Tunbridge Wells innings.

They are also scattered across different parts of India. Gavaskar and Shastri live out of suitcases as premier broadcasters, and have become voices of Indian cricket. Krish Srikkanth runs a successful Tamil YouTube channel with his son Aniruddha, having been a chairman of selectors. Vengsarkar runs one of Mumbai's most successful cricket academies, with branches in Pune.

Sunil Valson lives in a quaint hill station in northern India, Madan Lal runs his academy at Delhi's Siri Fort and is frequently on TV as an expert, while Syed Kirmani recently wrote his autobiography. So did Mohinder Amarnath, who lives in Goa. Kirti Azad shuttles between West Bengal's Asansol and Delhi while dealing with voices in the Trinamool Congress that consider him an outsider. Binny is BCCI president and probably the quietest among all those that the country's cricket establishment has ever heard.

But 25 June 1983 binds them all in a thread.

Edited PTI copy