A collector's item

JUNE 25, 1983, is a red letter day in the history of Indian cricket. It was on this day that Kapil Dev and his Devils lifted the Prudential World Cup at Lord's. Those days when colour TV had just about made its debut in the country, not many people saw the memorable World Cup matches involving India.

This writer remembers that when West Indies were tottering at 76 for 6 (chasing a target of 183) in the finals, a power failure robbed us of witnessing the fall of the next two wickets. It was another matter altogether that before the eighth wicket fell, Jeffrey Dujon and Malcolm Marshall managed to bring West Indies within striking distance of victory after their star batsmen crumbled to an inspired Indian bowling attack. Unfortunately, that the inexorable addition of 45 runs without losing a wicket at a magical juncture when an epic Indian victory seemed within reach, was not viewed by Chennai residents then.

Krish Srikkanth was a vital constituent of that great moment and in fact, was the top scorer of the 1983 final with a typical 38 containing seven boundaries and a six.

Srikkanth now heads an entertainment company (Kris-Srikkanth.com of Pentamedia Graphics) and he plays mostly to the gallery now.

The former Indian skipper has recently launched a CD pack titled "The Greatest Moment in Indian Cricket", which will prove a treat for cricket lovers. Srikkanth anchors the presentation and the CDs contain video footage of the semi-finals and finals along with interviews with Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath, Roger Binny, Syed Kirmani and interestingly, Joel Garner.

Joel Garner speaks of the mood in the Caribbean dressing room before, during and after the 1983 Final. Obviously, the West Indians were expecting to "garner" a third consecutive title and Big Bird refers to the inconsolable desolation when the mighty Windies were humbled.

Joel Garner confesses that when India had been restricted to a seemingly meagre 183, there had been apprehension that chasing a small total at the biggest occasion was going to be dicey. "We would have won if the target was 283", opines a grim Garner after the feared quartet of Roberts, Garner, Holding and Marshall had done a hatchet job on India. Free-wheeling comments adorn the interviews conducted by Kris Srikkanth. Kapil Dev says, "Viv Richards played it like a 30 over game and not a 60 over match". This was after Richards threatened to take the game away from India, slamming seven boundaries of a blistering 33 runs.

Throughout the CD presentation, Srikkanth maintains his refreshingly candid raconteur style and reels off interesting anecdotes at World Cup 1983, which appear under the Sidelights.

There are other attractive sides to the CD offering like CricketGames and Quiz while the tournament's Classic Moments are captured on video. Trivia and statistics find their place while actual press reports on each day reflect the growing incredulity as a resurgent India continued to defeat all the major cricket playing countries.

Indeed, in the warm-up games before the World Cup started, says Srikkanth in the CD, "We had lost to New Zealand, Sri Lanka and even minor counties which came as a major surprise." So, when India confounded the form book and critics in entering the semi- finals to play against favourites England, the tabloid press was full of the proposed tactics to be used by England in the final versus West Indies. "They had written us off even before the game", says Srikkanth.

Srikkanth recounts the munificent cash award of Rs. 25,000 each for all the players, a prince's ransom in those days. The Indian Cricket Board had announced this when Kapil's Devils entered the finals, win or lose.

The CD pack is priced at Rs. 750. Definitely a collector's item, the highlight of the CDs is the irrepressible Srikkanth's personal feelings during the tournament. His buccaneering and swashbuckling anchoring of cricket programmes on TV has been muted down in the CD pack and one can appreciate that this is from the heart.

M. SRINATH NARAYAN

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