Wow what an emotional picture that was. Had me in tears in many places. 80s kid!
Ranveer Singh lived the skipper’s role. But I was blown over by the appearance of the real hero in the stands in the match with Zimbabwe when the captain’s knock of 175 not out won India the berth into the finals. Impossible match, world record that never got recorded to posterity. Grateful to have it reconstructed or whatever in silver screen. Felt as if we were watching the match.
KAPIL DEV NIKHANJ: Let me tell you here, you were and are always our No.1 cricketer, not only because you won us our first ever world cup and you were a fine all rounder, but more because you played passionate cricket, and you played for India and not for personal glory. That sets you apart from selfish Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar who I could never come to like. After seeing you today, I feel like reviving my cricket interest. I saw the same streak of selfless passion and fire in M S Dhoni only, after you.
Excellent cast. Tamil actor Jeeva played Krishnamachari Srikkanth. Cheeka of course will always be our local hero. Very balanced picture where the power of captaincy is subtly portrayed without egos getting hurt. Interspersed with humour frame to frame, the picture makes an engrossing watch. While we Indians are today global CEOs, Brits I believe are now increasingly on welfare! But that doesn’t make me happy. Respect everyone that’s all.
I think we truly played gentleman cricket then. I have always loved Sandeep Patil, Roger Binny, Jimmy Amarnath, Kirmani, Vengsarkar, Srikkanth, Kapil and not to leave out Maninder Singh. They lent a grace and charm to the game, correct me if I am wrong. Never cared for technicality of Gavaskar or Tendulkar for that matter. The spirit of the game mattered more.
Lords and Melbourne are not only the cricket players’ dreams, but also the dreams of a billion Indians. No, not yet set my foot in both stadia but I have in our Chidambaram Stadium at Chepauk, Chennai 😀 We are members of the T N C A club but believe me the club is good only for eating bajji and bonda with lousy chutney. They never give us any tickets. We aren’t asking for free stuff.
Underestimation of India and Indians in UK is not unusual. Don’t worry fellow Indians, we left them behind way back. We are far ahead of them even if they would like to show our slums in the BBC and not our Mars mission. As Kapil says, we have to give them reply in action. David Firth chewing on his words was good direction.
Recalled so many names that’re almost forgotten, like rival cricket teams. Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Geoff Dujon, Ian Botham, Malcom Marshall omg, Holding and others.
The finance crunch in the Indian cricket in the 80s I have read about. Raj Singh Dungapur reportedly bailed the team out. From here, started the ruthless, mindless commercialization of Indian cricket and the sport has since not been the same. Somehow I wish we could recreate the 80s magic. Cash strapped but oozing with passion and potential.
All cricket players in the team are well represented and the picture is not most importantly Kapil-centric which is great.
One noticeable omission however was the match with Pakistan. A handshake of Kapil and Imran is all we have. Why? If the picture is lengthy, then a practice match could have been edited. There were two matches with West Indies apart from the final, one with England, and two with Australia, one with Zimbabwe. When the director could accommodate so much, why not the one with Pakistan with Imran Khan. We are talking about a key cricket playing nation. What is the world cup or cricket without them whether we like them or not. Imran was still a cricket player and captain of his team, not a politician. Or did he raise any objection. In that case it is understandable.
I literally relived the 1983 match. My mother used to be a huge, huge fan of Kapil Dev. Kapil is one of the connecting dots for me with my mother.
Not many houses in our street had tv back then. So every single house with b & w EC tv or Solidaire tv was bursting at seams with friends and family. I remember vaguely the fire crackers going up in my street. Yah, enjoyed the match along with my Mylaporean childhood friends who are still my best buddies. We always watched cricket matches together mostly in my house. 1986 Sharjah cup omg!
We are the 80s kids – i mean the 80s teens – the matchless. What we shared in the 80s, how we lived is something nobody else can fathom. We held a precious innocence and we were happy for no reason. This is what keeps us going today.
With IPL commercialization of Indian cricket, I slowly started losing interest in the game. I do watch the T20 world cup matches though. Otherwise have stopped totally. But 83 has stirred the dying embers of interest in cricket in me. May be I should start watching cricket again. I am not even sure of the whole team now. First time in last couple of years, I can’t recall the whole team.
Cricket may have been religion in India but other sports are also catching up in recent times. India has been doing well in Badminton, Tennis, Chess, Hockey etc., but it is true cricket continues to rake in the moolah, so naturally bags the best sponsors.
Must watch!
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