India is certainly a cricket-driven country as the nation is filled with crazy fans of the gentleman's game. Also, the sub-continent nation has one of the strongest teams in the modern era. However, India's journey of becoming a cricket giant went underway with Kapil Dev and Co's victory in the 1983 World Cup. India entered the gala tournament in England as underdogs. However, a determined squad pipped every one and made India the World Champion. In fact, it was exactly this day (June 25) when India defeated defending champions West Indies in the final encounter at Lord's and lifted the prestigious title. This Day That Year: West Indies Defeat Australia to Lift the Inaugural World Cup Title in 1975.

Caribbean captain Clive Lloyd won the crucial toss and decided to field first. India didn’t get off a to a good start as opener Sunil Gavaskar was dismissed after scoring just two runs. Kris Srikkanth joined forces with in-form Mohinder Amarnath and piled up 57 runs for the second wicket. The match was looking perfectly poised at that point in time. However, Windies pacers ran through India’s middle-order and put them on the backfoot. Wickets fell in a cluster as India were bundled out for 183 runs. Andy Roberts was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped three wickets while Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding got two wickets apiece. This Day That Year: Kapil Dev’s All-Round Performance Guided India to Their First Ever Test Win at Lord’s in 1986.

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West Indies looked all set to lift their third consecutive World Cup title. However, the Indian bowlers had other plans. Destructive openers Gordon Greenidge (1) and Desmond Haynes (13) were back in the pavilion without causing much damage. Pacer Madan Lal put up an exhibition of high-class fast bowling in the encounter. However, the legendary Vivian Richards went after the bowlers from the outset and tried to bring his side back in the game.

He, however, also fell prey to Madan Lal after scoring 33 runs off 28 deliveries. The Windies middle-order also couldn’t tackle the Indian bowlers and they fell like a pack of cards. Wicket-keeper Jeff Dujon (25) and Malcolm Marshall (18) also showed some fight but their resistance also came to an end soon. Amarnath ran through the lower-order batsmen as West Indies were packed for 140 runs and lost the game by 43 runs.

Kapil Dev’s Men were ecstatic as they fulfilled dreams of billion Indian fans and also brought a revolution in the country. For scoring 26 runs and picking three wickets, Mohinder Amarnath was adjudged the Man of the Match.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 25, 2020 12:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).