1983 Cricket World Cup

The Cricket World Cup in 1983 (aka Prudential Cup, 1983) was the third edition of the tournament. It was held 1983-06-09 – 1983-06-25 in England. 8 countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4 each in which each country played its groupmates twice unlike before. The top two teams in each group qualified for the semifinals, whose winners played the final.

The matches played consisted of 60 overs per team and were played in traditional white uniform and red balls. They were all played during the day.

The countries participating were:

Test teams
* Australia (Group B)
* England (Group A)
* India (Group B)
* New Zealand (Group A)
* Pakistan (Group A)
* Sri Lanka (Group A)
* West Indies (Group B)

Other teams
* Zimbabwe (Group B)

The 1983 World Cup was full of dramatic cricket right from the word go with underdogs India and Zimbabwe staging upset victories over the West Indies and Australia, respectively. Along with England, Pakistan and tournament favourites West Indies, India too qualified to the semifinals. India pulled off yet another victory, this time over England to meet the West Indies in the finals.

In the finals at the Lord's cricket ground, London, the Indians were all out for 183 and the West Indies were expected to cruise along to a third successive World Cup win. But with their bowling and fielding efforts India managed a 43 run win. The Prudential Cup thus switched hands from the West Indies to India, captained by Kapil Dev. The Man of the Match was Mohinder Amarnath.

Trivia

The physical trophy won by the Indian cricket team was damaged during a violent rampage on the Indian cricket board's headquarters by the extremist Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena.