1983 and 2011: The story of two generations

Kapil Dev receiving the 1983 World Cup

This year in India we celebrated 3 years of the 2011 World Cup win and 31 years of 1983 Cricket World Cups win, 39 years of 1975 Hockey World Cup win. 25th June 1983, 10th March 1985, 24th September 2007, 24th June 2010, 2nd April 2011 and 23rd June 2013 are the most important dates in the history of Indian cricket as far as the One Day Internationals are concerned.

1. 25th June – India defeats West Indies in in England
2. 10th March1985 - India defeats Pakistan in Benson Hedges World Championship in Australia.
3. 24th September 2007 - India defeats Pakistan in Maiden T20 Finals WC
4. 24th June 2010 - Asia Cup win defeating Sri Lanka
5. 2nd April 2011 - WC finals win after 28 years defeating Sri Lanka
6. 23rd June 2013 - Champions Trophy defeating England in England

1983 and 1985 were the eras where ODI was still in its baby steps, people’s interest in the sport had just begin to stabilise, it was an intriguing sport dominated by the Shastris, Gavaskars, and the rest. Sponsors were far and few, colour television had just made its debut thanks to the Asian Games of 1982 which showcased India’s ability to host a major sporting event. India won two major 50 over championships – the World Cup in 1983 in England and Benson Hedges World Championship 1985 in Australia. There are reasons why for an Indian, the 1983 WC win is a more powerful memory than the 2011 one.

1. India defeated West Indies, a talented team consisting of fearsome bowlers and attacking batsmen, as West Indies had previously won two previous World Cups in 1975 and 1979.
2. They won on foreign soil, more specifically our colonial masters for nearly two centuries, and importantly cricket coverage was mostly limited to radio and newspapers. The last major sporting triumph in a world tournament was Indian defeating Pakistan in the 1975 Hockey World Cup finals.
3. Not many matches were played , there were no packed schedules, just a few off and on matches
4. No big sponsors, it was considered a leisure game. No technology like replays, stump microphones, one camera angle from the wicket-keeping end.

Impact of 1983

From that we come into the 2011 win. India had won on its home soil, it was the era of the Kohlis, Dhonis. Up to this day the idea of this sport had changed, one cannot doubt that the catalyst was 1983 and comparisons like is the want of human nature will be made. Technology had seeped in, there was too much of this sport, it had consumed many a household.

This win got drowned due to the India T20 league and the attention span was not too lengthy. By this day and age, the 20 over format in its baby steps had begin to seep into the psyche. Of course, the media’s attitude towards the sport has changed, it has become complex, more money is being invested.

The meaning of the game from a simple bat-ball game has changed into a career choice for many youngsters. Now there is the debate whether the 5-day game’s purity is being challenged by the more overawed, fast paced 50 over and 20 over versions which the former stars generally do not endorse.

Let us talk about fielding, batting , bowling and how they have changed over the course of 40 years. Batting was about scoring runs in a more sedate manner, not too many adventurous shots, though before a Virender Sehwag, David Warner, we had the likes of Vivian Richards and Kris Srikanth who could attack, then we had the famous Jayasuriya-Kaluwitharna partnership which is the epitome of two players attacking simultaneously and the reason for Sri Lanka’s premier win of 1996 before the current T20 win of 2014.

More variations in cricket today

There are shots such as scoop over the keeper, fine leg, the paddle sweep, the reverse sweep and the most audacious, debatable and controversial of all, the switch hit considered a blasphemy by the MCC. Now, bowling is not about just pace throughout or simple spin, now there are variations - slower balls, the off cutter, leg cutter, swing, reverse, the last two a by-product of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

In spin, we have the carom-ball, the doosra, the goggly, the wrong one, the arm ball all designed to fox or fool the batsman. Fielding was the last thing on the minds of players, it used to be good, counting Kapil Dev's catch of Viv Richards, then to the post-Jonty Rhodes era whose run out of Inzamam in 1992 WC certainly changed the way fielding was viewed. The concept of an all-rounder has changed meaning, there has never been one constant meaning and since these have been far and few, they have hogged all the limelight inadvertedly. This group is between 1975 to 1994

Cricket has ceased to be a sport and more of a business between various boards who play with each other for monetary benefits and other agreements and in this light players are literally forced to play 365 days a year, countries citing broadcasting agreements and other things. The World Cup has been hosted by all the major cricket playing nations:

That sums up how these two World Cup wins were not only part of two different generations - a sans mobile phone, internet age of 1983 to a fully digitised world of internet, mobile phone, HDTV of 2011 and how they had a different impact on the two generations.