India's 1983 World Cup team didn't have any one particular hero. For every match it was one player or the other who put his hand up and saw that the team prospered. Kapil Dev's hundred, Yashpal Sharma's batting and bowling, Roger Binny's all round performance… they all counted. But come the crunch time, it was one man who stood out from the crowd.

Mohinder "Jimmy" Amarnath made his mark in the two most important matches for India in that tournament: the semi-final and the final.

In the semi-final against England on a low, slow pitch, similar to the ones in India, Amarnath's medium pacers first accounted for two key English wickets- David Gower and Mike Gatting. Conceding just 27 runs in his 12 overs, Amarnath was the ideal companion to other similar bowlers in India's line-up. Kapil Dev for once could not do much damage early on and that was an indication of the nature of the pitch. India had managed to hold England to just 213. When India's turn to bat came, Amarnath was involved in a crucial partnership of 92 with Yashpal Sharma. Amarnath contributed 46 runs and put India on the path to victory. For his efforts with bat and ball, he was adjudged man of the match and rightly so.

Playing in the biggest match of India's cricketing history was going to be a daunting task. But Amarnath was up to the challenge in the final against two-time defending champions West Indies. India also had the advantage of knowing what it took to beat the West Indies having achieved the feat in the opening match of the tournament.

The final was a see-saw affair and batting first, India had lost Gavaskar early. But Amarnath joined the aggressive Srikkanth and calmly batted his way to a crucial 26. Not much for a batsman of his calibre, but in the context of the game, it was a critical innings. India's 183 was not the biggest of targets and the West Indies, despite a poor start, looked on course with Viv Richards coming into his element. But India fought back and when Dujon was joined by Marshall, the West Indies was 76 for 6. The partnership blossomed and threatened to take the game away from India.

But Mohinder Amarnath came to the party yet again and removed the dangerous Dujon. Soon after, he also had Malcolm Marshall caught and India was on the home stretch. When Amarnath finally trapped Michael Holding in front, the scenes at Lord's were of pure jubilation. Amarnath had picked up three of the last four wickets and in the space of 21 runs, the West Indian chase was snuffed out.

Amarnath was adjudged Man of the match for the second time in as many matches and once again, he had proved what an effective all-rounder he had been for India through the tournament. The sight of Amarnath running with the stumps after the last wicket had fallen remain etched in the memory of Indian fans till date.

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