New Delhi. Whenever June 25 comes in the last four years, the memories of the most vivacious member of the ’83’ WhatsApp group make the remaining 13 members. Four years ago, Yashpal Sharma breathed his last. But after this, not a single day would have gone when the members of Kapil Dev’s 1983 World Cup winning team have not remembered ‘Yash Paaji’. The Indian cricket team won the World Cup by defeating the West Indies on 25 June 1983.
The great batsman Sunil Gavaskar had said about him, “He was a very popular member of the team and we all remember him.” The 83 WhatsApp group has 14 members of the team and manager PR Man Singh. When the Indian team won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy or Roger Binny became the BCCI President or Kirti Azad, who was the coach of Ravi Shastri, the Lok Sabha elections won the Lok Sabha elections, there is a round of discussion on this group.
Could not celebrate this time
Gavaskar said, ‘We are in contact almost everyday and today at all.’ Vijay Mallya’s UB Group organized a ceremony for all the team members on the Ladors on the 25th anniversary of the World Cup win in 2008. Then in 2023, the Adani Group honored the members on the 40th anniversary. This time Gavaskar and Shastri Anderson is out due to his media busyness for the Tendulkar Trophy and Dilip Vengsarkar is also not in the country, so it could not be celebrated.
1983 was a very big thing…
Sunil Gavaskar said, ‘We had thought of celebration this year but had to postpone due to the ongoing series. The team was honored by the Adani Group in Ahmedabad two years ago. Sourav Ganguly, one of the most successful captains of India, recently said in a podcast in PTI, ‘1983 was a big thing. It was a big thing to see Kapil Dev, Sandhu, Madan Lal, Roger Binny, Sandeep Patil on the Lord’s. This inspired us to play cricket.
Many stories related to that victory are included in the legends of cricket. It has been said that when Kapil played an unbeaten innings of 175 runs against Zimbabwe, there is no video recording of BBC employees on strike. Famous journalist Gulu Ijekeel, however, wrote in his book ‘Myth Busters’ that on 18 June 1983, the BBC broadcast the match of West Indies and Australia on England and Pakistan and Loders in Manchester. The BBC did not find India and Zimbabwe’s match as important.
The window of the house was broken by Kapil’s sixes
It was the first and last international match on Tonbridge Wales but this ground is no less than a pilgrimage for Indian cricket lovers. Those living around the stadium have a story of Kapil Dev. A British citizen once told that a window of the landlord he had bought the house was broken by Kapil’s sixes.
The BCCI, who is struggling with economic trouble after winning India’s World Cup, requested the Swara Kokila Lata Mangeshkar to make a concert to raise funds. With the amount received from this, the BCCI gave two lakh rupees to every member of the team. In return, Lata ji kept getting two VIP tickets from any match of the Indian team.
Mohinder Amarnath lives in Goa. Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad keeps coming between Asansol and Delhi. Binny is the BCCI president and all of them is the least speaking person. All of them are tied to a strong door of 25 June 1983.