It is a double day of celebration for the India Cricket Team fans. Just yesterday the Men in Blue lifted the ICC Champions Trophy by beating New Zealand in Dubai. Interestingly, 40 years ago, On This Day, Team India defeated Pakistan in Australia to win the Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket.
On March 10th, India played the finals against the arch-rivals and defeated them by 8 wickets to lift the title. This comes just 2 years since India’s maiden ICC World Cup win. Under Kapil Dev‘s captaincy, India went on to beat West Indies in the 83 World Cup finals.
Back in the World Championship of Cricket, India and Pakistan reached the semis from Group A. Meanwhile, West Indies and New Zealand reached the top 4 from Group B. After winning the semis against the Kiwis, courtesy of a stellar performance from Ravi Shastri, India reached the finals.
Dual Celebration for Team India
Kapil Dev was on his groove in the finals. He struck early, dispatching Pakistan’s top order early. On came Pakistani captain Imran Khan who forged a strong partnership with Javed Miandad to save the innings. Pakistan managed 176/9 with Kapil Dev and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan bagging 3 wickets apiece.
India were grand in the start. Kris Srikkanth hammered a good knock of 67 runs while Ravi Shastri added 63 runs to his name. India finished the chase with 8 wickets remaining and in just 48 overs. Srikkanth was awarded the Man of the match award while Shastri received the Player of the series award.
