World Cup 1983: Beginning of India's fairytale from home of cricket, Lord's

On a balmy evening on June 25, 1983, Kapil Dev etched his name in the heart of every cricket fan in India while holding aloft the Prudential Cup in Lord's balcony after beating the mighty West Indies led by the indomitable Clive Lloyd.

West Indies lost the throne and then never got it back again. It was a watershed moment in world cricket and saw the advent of Asia in the game which was otherwise dominated by the big three - England, Australia and West Indies.

On that historic Saturday, Clive Lloyd won the toss and put India into bat. It seemed the West Indies bowlers led by Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding would tear apart the Indian line-up and it went as predicted.

Gavaskar lost his wicket to Roberts with India reduced to 2-1 but his counterpart Kris Srikkanth had other ideas. In true T20 fashion, India's premier blaster layed into the attack hitting boundaries and sixes in a well-planned counter-attack.

Srikkant hit 38 in 57 balls studded with seven boundaries and one six as India pulled back from Gavaskar's early loss. Mohinder Amarnath who was declared the man of the match pitched in with 26(80 balls) with three boundaries to keep India in the game.

Sandeep Patil, the six-hitter par excellence who was known for his hook shots made a quickfire 27 in just 29 balls with one six but others failed to capitalise as India folded for just 183 in 54.4 overs.

Andy Roberts picked up 3 wickets with Marshall, Holding and Larry Gomes pitching in with two wickets respectively.

Then began India's fairytale...

West Indies batsman started their innings and began falling by the wayside. Opener Greenidge left with just 5 runs on the board, Haynes was no better scoring just 13. Viv Richards kept West Indies in the match but after Kapil Dev took his catch running back to a well-pitched Madan Lal delivery with West Indies on 57-3, Indian supporters felt their nerves tingle.

Madan Lal picked up three crucial wickets - Haynes, Richards and Gomes and Amarnath dislodged wicketkeeper Dujon, Malcolm Marshall and last man - Michael Holding as India n fans ran into the pitch to hug their heroes.

It was 36 years ago today, but for Indian fans it happened yesterday. Although Team India went on to win another World Cup after 28 years in 2011 at the Wankhede in Mumbai under MS Dhoni, the feeling of the first Cup never subsided.

India's love affair with cricket began on that day and it continued.