In a few hours after you read this, all eyes will be on Ahmedabad as Rohit Sharma’s men in blue take on five-time world champions Australia in the summit clash of the men’s ODI World Cup 2023. There will be only one prayer on a billion plus Indian lips — a repeat of the Indian triumphs in 1983 and 2011. As we count down to the final, we take a look back at how a single moment of instinct taking precedence over logic dramatically altered the flow of events in both the 1983 and 2011 finals.
In 1983, India were crowned the unlikeliest world champions ever, not just in cricket but possibly across sports. Against all odds, inspired by their charismatic captain, India booked a final showdown against the two-time reigning world champions of limited overs cricket: the mighty West Indies. True to expectations, the West Indian pace battery decimated the Indian batting, dismissing them for just 183. It was the lowest total in a World Cup final. Celebrations had already started among Caribbean supporters in the stands. But Kapil Dev refused to give up.
When the match restarted, Balwinder Sandhu produced a magical delivery to send back the dangerous Gordon Greenidge. Enter stage: King Viv Richards. He grabbed the Indian bowling attack by the scruff of its neck and started smashing boundaries at will. It seemed the match would get over in no time. Even Desmond Haynes’s loss did not seem to affect Viv. In 27 balls, he hit 7 boundaries to race to 33. Madan Lal bore the brunt of Viv’s assault. Kapil decided to replace Madan with another bowler. But Madan — widely acknowledged as a cricketer with a big heart — ran up to his captain and kept insisting on one more over.
Behind Madan’s insistence lay a piece of recent cricketing history. Just before the World Cup, India had toured the West Indies, where they pulled off a historic win in an ODI at Berbice. There, a rampaging Richards was dismissed by Madan to turn the match on its head. Madan reminded Kapil of that and said Viv would try to hit him again, giving him a good chance of taking his wicket. The captain’s brain kept telling him to change Madan, but in the end, he decided to listen to his heart. The rest was history. As Viv tried to deposit a short ball from Madan into the mid-wicket stand, he mistimed it and the ball ballooned in the air. Kapil made a long run and pulled off an incredible catch. West Indies never recovered from losing their talisman and it was India all the way.
Most courageous decision in World Cup history
Dhoni in the thick of action in the 2011 ICC World Cup final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai Getty Images
Fast forward to 2011. Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. After a slow start, M.S. Dhoni’s men has marched into the finals defeating Pakistan in the semis. Now, another neighbor, Sri Lanka stands in the way. The Lankans bat first and put up a stiff target of 275. And when Lasith Malinga sends back Sachin Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag back to the pavilion with just 31 on the board, every Indian’s worst nightmare seems to be coming true.
But Gautam Gambhir, in tandem with a young Virat Kohli, slowly brought India back into the match. When Kohli fell with 161 runs still needed, everyone expected Yuvraj Singh to walk out. India’s 2007 World T20 winning hero was having another great tournament and would eventually be adjudged player of the tournament. But that evening, it wasn’t Yuvraj who emerged at the fall of Kohli’s wicket. To the surprise of most and shock for a few, it was Dhoni who stepped out. By cold logic, it made little sense. The Indian captain was having an ordinary tournament with the bat. In 7 innings, he had made only 150 runs with zero half centuries.
But MSD, who was widely recognised for his smart cricketing intellect, took this courageous call despite knowing that had he failed, the knives would have been out for him. Just like Madan nearly 30 years ago, some recent history influenced MSD. For three seasons, he had been a teammate with Lankan spin ace Mutthiah Muralitharan at IPL team Chennai Super Kings. He had faced Murali thousands of times in CSK net sessions and felt a sense of familiarity. Plus he was a right-hander, who generally find it easier than left-handers to play off-spinners. Armed with these insights, MSD strode out ahead of the man in form — Yuvraj. It was possibly the most courageous decision in World Cup history.
And MSD did create new history that night. As he deposited Kulasekara into the stands, India were on top of the world again after 28 years.
Two World Cup finals. Two Indian triumphs. Two critical moments. What might have happened if Kapil had not listened to Madan. Or MSD had decided to play it safe. We would never know… But in the end, it was the happy ending that mattered most.
Will history repeat itself tomorrow? Will an instinctive call by Rohit Sharma turn the course of the match? Even if it doesn’t, we only pray that India conquers the cricket world one more time.
