What If: Kapil's Devils had lost the 1983 World Cup final

#5 Hockey would have been India’s No. 1 sport

The Indian hockey team which won the gold medal in 1936 Summer Olympics

Hockey was the most popular sport in India from its early days, with the national team being the undisputed champions of the sport – winning eight gold medals in the Summer Olympics between 1928 and 1980. Their domination was the main reason behind the sport being the most popular in the country.

The World Cup win for the Indian cricket team in 1983 and a string of poor performances by the hockey team around that time were instrumental in cricket becoming popular and hockey fading away. The Indian hockey team failed miserably for the next few years and it was only at the 2016 Olympics, that they qualified for the knockout stages after 36 years.

Had India not won the World cup, it is highly unlikely that hockey would have faded away into oblivion and paved the way for cricket to become the numero uno sport in the country.