India were not among the favourites for the 1983 World Cup, but still the legendary West Indies allrounder Garry Sobers had a hunch that Kapil Dev’s team could cause a big upset.
India went on to win the World Cup by beating the defending champions and Sobers’s former team, the West Indies. But what was it that led Sobers to making a prediction that turned prophetic, even when no one gave India even an outside chance?
Yashpal Sharma, the batsman of the victorious Indian team — who died at the age of 66 in July 2021, narrated the incident at the team’s reunion before the launch of the movie ’83.
India were playing Sri Lanka in a warm-up game before the World Cup, and the Indian team’s performance in the match made Sobers believe that Kapil & Co could be the team to watch out for.
“Very few people know about this…you know how the legends of the game have a knack to read it better than the most,” Sharma said while narrating the story.
“There was a warm-up match against Sri Lanka in Leicestershire and Sir Garfield Sobers was there. We had made 285, thanks to a partnership between Kapil and myself. Seeing us score that much on a green top, he said, ‘These guys might be underdogs, but watch out for them in the World Cup.’ He knew.”
India went on to beat the mighty West Indies in the final by 43 runs while defending a mere 183. The triumph proved to be a turning point for Indian cricket.