India had toured the West Indies just before the World Cup in 1983 and lost the three-match ODI series 1-2. Many considered the solitary win good enough… after all, the West Indies were the reigning two-time world champions. And India had failed to progress beyond the first round in both World Cups.

India's campaign got off to the best possible start. Facing the West Indies in opening match, they put up 262 in their 60 overs thanks largely to an innings of 89 from Yashpal Sharma. The West Indian reply got off to a stable start with an opening partnership of 49, but thereafter, the wheels came off thanks to Roger Binny's 3/48 and a fine spell of left-arm spin bowling by Ravi Shastri (3/26). Andy Roberts and Joel Garner scored 37 each and this was the highest West Indian contribution apart from the 25 extras! A rude wake-up call to the World Champions that this World Cup was not theirs for the taking.

India kept up the momentum in their second match against Zimbabwe. Bowling first, they restricted the Zimbabweans to just 155 with Madan Lal (3/27) the star. In reply, the Indians recovered from a slightly shaky 2/32 thanks to Sandip Patil (50) and Mohinder "Jimmy" Amarnath (44) and registered a 5-wicket win. The stage had been set for India's all-rounders to make a mark.

Unfortunately for India, two losses in the next two games meant they were falling behind the pace. In the first of these two matches, India played Australia and three big contributions led by a 110 from Trevor Chappell, 66* to Graham Yallop and 52 to Captain Kim Hughes saw Australia pile up a massive 320. Even a 5/43 to Kapil Dev wasn't good enough to save India. In reply, Kapil Dev's 40 and Kris Srikkanth's 39 were the only notable contributions. India was bowled out for just 158 in 39 overs and lost by a huge 162 runs.

The next loss was not as huge, but had a bigger psychological impact. Playing the West Indies again, India would have been high on confidence after their win in the first round. But King Viv stepped up and smashed a 119 that took the wind out of India's sails! 282 was not an easy score to chase with four of the fastest bowlers in the world to face! India tried through Mohinder Amarnath (80) and Kapil Dev (36) but was bowled out for 216 falling short by 66 runs.

Needing to win the remaining two games, India was facing Zimbabwe and would have fancied their chances. But a top order collapse left them staring down the barrel. At 5/17, it seemed like all was lost. But then, that's why all-rounders are so valuable in cricket. Kapil Dev, the captain, decided it was time to play a captain's innings. And he set about resurrecting the Indian campaign with a sublime yet powerful 175* that came off just 138 balls and included 16 fours and 6 sixes. Useful support from Roger Binny (22), Madan Lal (17) and Syed Kirmani (24*) helped him along the way. More than the target of 266, it was the sheer savage nature of the counter-attack by Kapil Dev that beat Zimbabwe. Kevin Curran (73) stood out for Zimbabwe, but it was always going to be a tall order. Madan Lal chipped in with 3 wickets and Roger Binny with 2. India won by 31 runs and the campaign was back on track.

The last match for India and Australia presented both teams with a chance of going through to the semi-final. India had three wins to their credit and Australia two, but a big win here could have put India out and Australia through. India won the toss and chose to bat first. This time, the batting came together and India looked good putting up a score of 247. The largest individual contribution came from Yashpal Sharma (40), but the effort was so combined that 247 was achieved easily. In reply, Australia had no answer to Roger Binny and Madan Lal (4 wickets each) and were bowled out for just 129. Allan Border topscored for Australia with 36 but India ran away with the match and into the semi-final winning by 118 runs.

In their last two World Cups, India had not progressed beyond the group stages and here they were in the semi-final playing the home team. England won the toss and batted first. A good opening partnership of 69 set them on their way, but as had often been the case through the tournament, India's medium pacers pegged the opposition back with some good controlled bowling. Kapil Dev (3/35) led the way and was ably supported by Roger Binny (2/43) and Mohinder Amarnath (2/27). England had been restricted to 213 and India had a real chance of making it through. Although India lost both openers by the time they were 50, no further alarm bells were allowed thanks to good partnerships of 92 between Amarnath (46) and Sharma (61) and later between Sharma and Patil (51*). India won comfortably by 6 wickets and had done the unthinkable.

In the final, India may have played Pakistan but could not! The Windies beat Pakistan and set up a clash against India for the third time in the tournament. With honours even from the previous two matches, this was a match for one-upmanship in addition to winning the biggest prize in cricket. Needless to say, the West Indies were overwhelming favourites and when the restricted India to just 183, a hat-trick seemed inevitable. No one apart from Srikkanth (38) could get going for India as Roberts (3/32) led the pace attack.

In reply, West Indies was cruising at 1-50 when yet another medium pace attack from India turned things around. But it took a moment of brilliance from the Indian Captain Kapil Dev to give India the confidence it needed in this big match. Running backwards, Kapil caught the rampaging Richards and stemmed his innings at just 33 before he could turn the match completely. Three more wickets within the next 20 runs saw the West Indies slump to 6/76 and India's dream had almost come true. A late partnership between Dujon (25) and Marshall (18) gave the West Indies some hope, but Mohinder Amarnath (3/12) made sure there were no comebacks. The West Indies was bundled out for 140 and India had achieved the impossible.

Till date this remains one of Indian cricket's biggest moments. This win catapulted India into the big league and under Kapil Dev's captaincy, a new face for Indian cricket had been born. 'Kapil's Devils', as they were known, had turned India into a cricketing superpower overnight.

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