India is a country where cricket is the biggest celebrated festival. Cricket is so much into the minds of Indians, that they don't even require a proper grounds to play the game. Streets, parking, living room of 10*10 feet, balcony, corridors, terrace, fields everything turns into a cricket field in the blink of an eye for Indians. In a secular country like India comprising of various religions, cricket is the largest religion , which unites the country. Cricket is an emotion for Indians. However it was not the case back then.

Cricket was not a popular sport back then. Hockey was India's most loved game , and also the most successful game. Back then, there were no fans who were curious to know what the score is. There were no public gatherings of people to witness their team play in important tournament of the gentlemen's game.Cricketers were not celebrities and infact most of the countrymen were not even aware about the names of players. But it all changed 40 years ago, when a bunch of brave men, led by a mad captain with a mad dream did the unthinkable.

What initially started just as a casual touch and go tournament for India, eventually ended up being the literal game changer for India. A transition from an India team which rarely looked for a victory , to a team which now looked only for winning the game happened. A bunch of individuals who were themselves not much serious about the tournament they were playing, suddenly gave hopes to the country, and fulfilled them by lifting the greatest honour in cricket.

The skipper of Indian team, Kapil Dev had always dreamt for it. And it did start for him right in the first match of the world cup , when an underdog India defeated the World Champions. For other players however, it was a one odd victory, and they realised the dream only after Kapil Dev's magical knock of 175. With further victories they won the confidence of Indian fans little by little, and the fans only realised the dream when Sandeep Patil's heroics helped India win the semi-final against England. Now every Indian realising the dream of the World Cup, all eyes were on the final. And the moment finally arrived.

25th June 1983, was the fortunate day which witnessed the tale of the most amazing final till that day. Lords was set to witness the final. However, the overcast conditions and further the wicket aiding bounce and swing looked favourite for the team bowling first. It almost looked like the day belonged to the team which won the toss and elected to bowl. And to add to the woes of Indians, West Indies won the toss and elected to bowl. What further strengthened their case was the fearsome four they boasted having in their bowling lineup.

And the decision was perfect for the West Indies as, India struggled to make runs. Indian team coming after winning by 6 wickets in the semi final , found it difficult to cope up with the fearsome four. However, some hitting by Srikkanth, resistance by Amarnath, run a ball innings from Sandeep Patil and few boundaries from tail enders took the score to 183. But was this really enough ? Specially knowing that West Indies had chased a similar total in the semi final against Pakistan to win the game by 8 wickets. What further went West Indies' way was the fact that it was the lowest total in the history of world Cup finals.

But a pumped up Indian team was high on confidence, and wanted to restrict the world class West Indian from scoring. The first blood came out when Sir Gordon Greenidge was dismissed by Balwinder Sandhu (a picture of which went on the later's postcard). Sir Vivian Richards' carnage which followed after was a massive threat to India's hopes. He looked to replicate what he did in finals. But a great bowl by Madan Lal, and an amazing backward running catch by the skipper Kapil Dev ended Richards' innings. Post then wickets fell at regular intervals, and once a well set Jeff Dujon was dismissed, the Windies were never in the game. India won the match by defending the lowest total in world cup final history against the strongest team in world cricket.

Kapil Dev and his men had done the unthinkable. They pulled out a victory in the tournament from a position, where all the odds were against them. And when they did, millions of people rejoiced back home. A moment celebrated like never before in India, it was the first glimpse of what the victory had done. India were the world champions. And for the very first time, world saw a different World Champion other than West Indies. Kapil Dev had broken the domination of West Indies in the world cups. The aftermath to follow was even more bigger.

The players who were hardly known to most Indians, were the heroes for millions of Indians. The influx of fans watching cricket exponentially rose up in India. The board which hardly managed to pay the players, raised huge funds with the help of Honourable Bharatratna Lata Mangeshkar, and awarded 1 lakh Inr to every player. Furthermore the players were showered by prizes from businessmen in India. Money opened doors for the players overnight, who found it difficult to manage finances prior to world cup. And most importantly, the world cup victory inspired a young Sachin Tendulkar to take up the sport and make it famous worldwide.

The victory further helped India and BCCI to achieve many firsts , which were believed to have never made possible without the victory. Indians were immensely happy to see the team win. World was happy to see for the first time a champion other than West Indies. Everyone was happy, but one man was not.

He was Hon. NKP Salve, the president of BCCI back then. He was not granted tickets for the final by the management. And in a fit of rage, he wanted to make India the first country to host world cup other than England. For that he had to arrange a big tournament. And he did it by forming the Asian Cricket Council, leading to the First Asia Cup, which was a first major tournament happening away from England , at a neutral venue in UAE. This strengthened the chances of a possible world cup away from England, and the ICC had to agree to Salve , whose efforts allowed India to host the World Cup in 1987, thereby becoming the first team to host it away from England.

So, in a way , in all possible ways , the 1983 world cup turned out to be a game changer not just for India, but also for the world cricket. Firstly it forced everyone to take India seriously in the cricketing world. Secondly, it showed the world that no team can have monopoly over the game, and lastly the aftermath of the 1983 world cup showed the world that a world cup can be held in any part of the world, and not necessarily England has to be the only place for it to be conducted. It was a pioneering move for decentralisation of world cricket, and it was a revolutionary victory which changed Indian cricket forever. And hence, no matter how much time goes by, every Indian will forever cherish the 1983 world cup forever. And every India holds his head high to salute Kapil Dev and bunch of crazy bravehearts who made it possible.