“Both wins are special. Better not compare the two, they are poles apart.” That’s what we heard from a few of those cricket lovers in the city who had seen (or heard) Indian cricket team triumph at the Lords on June 25, 1983, and on April 2, 2011, at Mumbai.
What Kapil Dev’s men did was different, felt many. For, in 1983, cricket had not yet become a religion in India, let alone Kerala. Television had not invaded into homes, hunting for a place in front of the television was the most exciting thing then. Transistors ruled the roost. In fact, there were many who didn’t even know that India had won the Cup till they saw the next day’s newspapers.
Now, 28 years down the lane, every other Indian lives and breathes cricket. “In 1983, you never expected India to reach the finals even. We were the underdogs and the win was almost a miracle. Coming to the present game, there was little to choose between the two. Both sides had great players. Nevertheless, yesterday’s win did give me special excitement. With technology being put to maximum use (like umpire review and various camera angles), you now enjoy the game in a different way,” says D Chandrasenan Nair, owner of Hotel Pankaj, himself a veteran cricketer, who watched the 1983-game at Keltron, where a screening had been arranged.
“The best thing about those games was that cricket was more genuine then, it had much more virginity. The entry for the screening was restricted. We were all excited about watching a game live. That was a period when you hardly got any family support if you said you wanted to play cricket. It was the 1983-win that got even women interested in the game. Yesterday, I was amused to see that at home the women had kept the food ready quite early to watch the match. And, when India won the game and I walked out to see the mood on the streets, over 1,000 people were there bursting crackers and there were several women in the crowd.”
It is all a different affair now, with a whole lot of commercialisation and new rules like power play, a whole lot of statistics and, of course, an extremely rich cricket board. Sharing this opinion was K Unnikrishnan Nair, a retired LIC employee who stays at Sasthri Nagar. It was at the Sree Mulam Club that he watched India upset West Indies in 1983. “I feel the excitement was more then. Now, you have too much cricket being played around and the pace of the game itself has changed over the years due to many rules,” says Unnikrishnan.
K N Anandakumar, executive director of Sri Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust, too felt the 1983-win was more exciting than the present one.
Asoka Narayanan, who works with the Central Excise Department, was doing his Pre-Degree at Government Arts College when India trounced the Windies. “We had no TV at home and there were none in the neighbourhood. We went to the house of Murali Potty, brother of ex-Speaker Damodaran Potty, at PTP Nagar and watched the match live, on a colour television. Convincing the family to go out and watch the match itself was something quite exciting. Actually, I had not seen any game prior to the finals. A win or loss didn’t matter, since, we were all thrilled about watching the game live. I don’t know whether you would understand the excitement of a 16-year-old!” he says with a laugh.
Many people came to know of the Indian victory only when the Government declared a holiday the next day, he adds. “Cricket was then looked upon as a game of the elite glass, something you now associate with golf. Now, it has changed,” he says.
m_athira@newindianexpress.com