Sport

Srikkanth still lives the dream

Chennai: Krishnamachari Srikkanth remembers a dream from the field of dreams. He, then, tells himself – “No, this is for real.”

There are occasions when the line between dreamland and reality can be blurred. And the protagonists need to remind themselves of the territory they are in.

India’s historic triumph in the Summer of ’83 was stuff of dreams. Rather, Kapil’s Devils lived a dream at Lord’s.Srikkanth breaks into a smile at the spacious lawn of his Neelankarai home in Chennai. Memories gush back.

A green, seaming pitch at Lord’s, the menacing West Indian pacemen who made the batsmen smell leather, the collapse, the fightback and an eventual ‘believe-it-or-not’ victory.

The view from the balcony at Lord’s could not have been better. The beating of the drums on a night of wild celebrations still rings in Srikkanth’s ears. What a feeling!

The dasher with the ‘walk-sniff-hit’ routine made 38, the highest individual score of the final. Given the quality of the West Indian pace quartet, the juice in the surface and the significance of the occasion, the effort was worth more.

Srikkanth recalls the early struggle. “All four of them, (Andy) Roberts, (Michael) Holding, (Malcolm) Marshall and (Joel) Garner were match-winners.”

This was among the greatest pace attacks in the game’s history.

The spell from Garner was particularly testing. “He was achieving bounce from a length,” says Srikkanth.

After Sunil Gavaskar had nicked Roberts to ’keeper Jeffery Dujon, the in-form Mohinder Amarnath joined Srikkanth in a crucial phase of the innings.

Srikkanth took his time to get off the mark. “The ball was darting around. My first scoring shot was a slash over slips.” Gradually, Srikkanth grew in confidence.

So much so that he would go down on one knee and square-drive Roberts to the fence — a shot that is etched in memory.

“I played that stroke and looked at the pavilion where my idol, Gundappa Viswanath, was following the match. He would have enjoyed the shot.”

Viswanath was not a part of the Indian squad but had flown down to watch the summit clash.

Srikkanth then struck Holding over his head to the ropes. “It probably was an even better stroke. Holding was bowling fast from his full run-up.”

The second wicket pair added 57 before Srikkanth was trapped leg-before by Marshall. “The spinners were about to come on and I cursed myself for getting out,” says Srikkanth.

After being bowled out for 183, Kapil’s message to the team was “Let’s put up a fight.”

And the Indians fought, bowling to the field, fielding with resolve and holding their nerve. A potentially embarrassing defeat was transformed into an epic triumph.

Twenty five years on, the conquest lives on. There are nights when Srikkanth wakes up and then pinches and tells himself, “This is for real.”

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