'Mind boggling stuff: '83 winning moments'

New Delhi: On a day that India won the most coveted trophy in the cricketing world 25 years ago, the members of that victorious World Cup team will celebrate its triumph in the famous Long Room at Lord's on Wednesday. It was here in the 'Mecca of Cricket' that India had won the World Cup by beating the almost invincible West Indies by 43 runs.

Sunil Gavaskar, who was a part of the team, still remembers the historic moment when Mohinder Amarnath trapped Michael Holding leg before to bundle out the West Indies and sent the entire country into a frenzy.

"As the ball ricocheted off Holding’s pads, I instinctively ran towards it to prevent a leg bye. Dickie Bird's raised finger meant that I had to do the fastest sprint of my life towards the safety of the dressing room. The ball tucked in my pocket is now my most prized cricketing possession," wrote Gavaskar in his column in the Hindustan Times.

Gavaskar also said that getting runs on the greenish top at Lord's against the formidable West Indies bowling was a tough ask.

"When we batted on a greenish pitch, the ball hardly met the bat and I remember taking a leg bye and coming towards Joel Garner, with whom I had shared a flat playing for Somerset in 1980, and saying plaintively, 'How about a half volley for your flatmate?' The reply with that famous smile was, 'No maan, this is the World Cup final,' said the former opener.

And those moments which helped India conquer Lord's that day still 'boggles' Gavaskar's mind.

"The mind still boggles at the ball which Balwinder Sandhu bowled to dismiss Gordon Greenidge and the catch that Kapil Dev took to get rid of Viv Richards when the great man was looking to finish the game early all by himself. And then Jimmy Amarnath’s swing that got rid of the dangerous duo of Jeff Dujon and Malcolm Marshall and finally trapped Michael Holding in front of the stumps," stated the legendary opener.

After 25 years, the Indian team will reunite again to celebrate the occasion, which Gavaskar had planned about an year ago.

"Fortunately, no game was scheduled and being a member of the MCC, I immediately booked the room. The idea was to have a reunion of the team that stunned the world and changed the way the world looked at Indian cricket," Gavaskar said.

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