For the Indian dressing room, the 1983 World Cup had no dearth of funny incidents
India, as a free nation, won its first-ever World Cup in hockey in 1975. Unfortunately, it is an episode not discussed enough, but the 1983 Cricket World Cup, which India won, hogged all the limelight. To date, several dressing room stories and unheard incidents have been shared by the members of that squad. Even the movie ‘83’ starring Ranveer Singh, featured several funny incidents, but the film missed out on one – the fall of wickets, toast, and towel.
As we celebrate India’s 79th Independence Day this August, let us recall another amusing incident involving Syed “Kiri” Kirmani from the 1983 World Cup campaign that did not receive much attention in comparison to other notable events.
We are all aware of how India lost wickets in quick succession during the match versus Zimbabwe played on June 18 at Tunbridge Wells. The movie showed how Kapil Dev was taking a shower when India lost several wickets with only a two-digit score on board.
(Credit- The Cricket Monthly)
That’s when a determined Kapil Dev took the onus on himself and started establishing an innings to turn the game in India’s favour. However, India’s wickets on the other end kept falling, with eight back to the pavilion while the scoreboard stood at 140.
Being a down-order batsman, Syed Kirmani never got the opportunity to bat in limited overs. Therefore, during that match, he was enjoying a toast and was ready to take a shower, not bothered about what was happening on the field. But what happened next was nothing short of a comedy of errors.
In an interview, Kiri revealed, “We were 17 for five. The conditions at Tunbridge Wells were not very well read (laughs)—no team would’ve batted first after winning the toss, but Kapil did just that. Normally, I never got to bat in limited-overs cricket. So, I was relaxing with my towel on after the warm-ups. I had a toast in one hand and was about to go in for a nice shower. Suddenly, I heard someone screaming, ‘Hey Kiri, pad up’! I obviously took that as a joke.”
(Credit- Siasat)
“Nevertheless, minutes later, there was another shout, “Kiri, what are you doing, man? Put your gear on! At that point, I thought there was something wrong somewhere, so I peered through the window to look at the scoreboard, and I saw 17/5. My towel dropped!” added Kiri.
After Kiri reached the pitch, he said to Kapil, “I told Kapil, ‘Maar k Marna hai apne ko’ (We have to go down fighting). My job was to take a single and let Kapil retain strike. From there on, it was absolute carnage.” Dev went on to score his historic 175 runs, whereas Kiri stood on the other side without losing his wicket, scoring 24 runs in 56 overs. His 24 runs were equally crucial, as he was the second-highest scorer for India in that match after Kapil Dev.
(Credit- The Hindu)
From such a situation, India registered a 31-run victory over Zimbabwe, thanks to three wickets by Madan Lal and two by Roger Binny. India becoming the champions of the world was a shocker, as nobody had estimated the underdogs to pull off a miracle, especially with numerous humiliations and comedies of errors throughout the World Cup in England.
