On this day in 1983: World witnessed Captain Kapil Dev’s magic

On June 18 in 1983, the world witnessed Captain Kapil Dev’s magic when the former Indian skipper, Kapil Dev, put on a spectacular show by scoring a stunning 175 runs against Zimbabwe on the biggest cricket stage in the world. An outstanding batting display propelled the Indian side from the pitiful position of 17/4 to a total of 266 runs, which was India’s highest total in a World Cup.

In the 20^th match of 1983 World Cup, after winning the toss team India elected to bat first. The decision appeared to backfire as the pace combo of Zimbabwe, Kevin Curran and Peter Rawson, destroyed India’s top order.

With only 17 runs on the board after a few overs, India was in disarray after losing four wickets. What came next was a captain on a mission’s incredible inning. Kapil displayed resiliency early in his innings by playing conservatively and selecting the ideal deliveries to score.

Kapil Dev posted an unbeaten knock of 175 runs off 138 balls. The skipper smashed 14 fours and 6 sixes in his spectacular innings.

Apart from the batting gem Kapil Dev’s 175 runs, the other best score on the scoreboard of India was Syed Kirmani’s 26.

In 60 overs, India was able to score 266 and was advance to the semi-finals after defeating Zimbabwe for 235 runs.

For India, Madan Lal bagged the highest number of wickets (3), Roger Binny grabbed 2 wickets, while Kapil Dev, Balwinder Sandhu, and Mohinder Amarnath took a wicket each.

Those who were not present were unable to see Kapil Dev’s record-breaking inning. The commonly held belief for not telecasting the game is that the BBC cameramen were on strike, although others point out that the BBC chose to broadcast the England-Pakistan match that was being played in Manchester on the same day instead, this is the largely accepted explanation for why the match was not shown.

With the help Kapil Dev’s magic in 1983 World Cup, India not just beat the Zimbabwe and qualify for the semi-final but also in seven days, Kapil Dev and the Indian side defeated the powerful West Indies to win the 1983 World Cup.