Sunil Gavaskar and Syed Kirmani.© YouTube
Former India batter Syed Kirmani has revealed a funny incident from the 1983 World Cup. It was India’s match against Zimbabwe in which the then captain of the side, Kapil Dev, played the iconic 175-run knock. India were tottering at 17 for 5 when Kapil Dev entered the crease and tore apart the Zimbabwe bowlers, helping his team eventually post a total of 266 for 8 in 60 overs. The captain’s unbeaten knock was laced with 16 fours and 6 sixes.
Kirmani revealed the funny incident during Adani Group’s launch of ‘Jeetenge Hum’ campaign at Adani Day.
“I am in the dressing room, toast in between my teeth and the towel around me. Somebody shouted from outside – ‘Hey Kiri pad up’. Normally, guys pull your leg (by shouting like this). So I ignored that shout. In a span of three minutes again, someone shouted – ‘Arey kya kar raha hai yaar (What are you doing man?) Pad up.’ So I held my towel with the toast between my teeth, I saw the scoreboard which read 17 for 5. My toast and towel fell down. I looked around left and right. Believe me, no one was there in the dressing room,” said Syed Kirmani on the eve of India’s 40th anniversary of 1983 World Cup.
India went on to win the game by 31 runs as the side bundled out Zimbabwe for 235. Madan Lal picked three wickets while Roger Binny scalped two. Mohinder Amarnath, Kapil Dev and Balwinder Sandhu claimed a wicket each.
In the final match of the tournament, India defeated West indies by 43 runs to claim their first-ever World Cup title.
Topics mentioned in this article
By
By
