Looking back: Five reasons why India beat mighty West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final

32 years..and counting!

That is how long it has been since Kapil Dev and his plucky band of boys felled mighty West Indies on that fateful day of June 25 at Lords, which kick started a cricketing revolution back home.

As a gleaming Mohinder Amarnath raced away to the hallowed balcony, stump in tow, making his way past the throng of overjoyed people, life had indeed come full circle for India, given it's so called minority amongst cricketing giants.

Yes, though they did beat Clive Lloyd's side in a previous league match at Manchester, but still repeating the act in the final was almost considered as an impossibility, given the vast gulf in class between the two sides.

Though the triumph still remains India's most memorable till date, let us take a look at five factors which contributed to the most famous win in the country's sporting history.

Overconfidence and dependence on Viv Richards!

Viv Richards was in sublime for in the 1983 tournament (India.com)

Agreed that though Clive Lloyd's side were the big daddies of world cricket, thanks to their plethora of world class batsmen and bowlers, but still the fact remains that they did not take a cue from their earlier defeat at Manchester and under estimated India in the final.

Even in that league fixture, West Indies had an off-day and lost the game by 34 runs, signs which should have given them enough incentive to iron out their batting flaws.

Though their bowlers remained a class apart, batting was an area of concern, especially the middle-order, which was prone to collapses, provided stalwarts like Viv Richards fail to fire.

Another example is the second league match at Kennington Oval, where if not for Richard's timely 119, the team looked set for another defeat at the hands of the Indians.

Richards' 367 runs throughout the tournament only proves as to how dependent West Indies were on him to fire, and apart from Larry Gomes (257 runs), Gordon Greenidge (250) and Desmond Haynes (240), none of the other batsmen turned up when it really mattered the most, which ultimately proved to be the telling factor.

Kris Srikkanth and that marvellous cameo!

Kris Srikkanth in action in the 1983 final (India.com)

After Andy Roberts had snared up the tenacious Sunil Gavaskar early on, Srikkanth stood up and played a gem of a knock, which stands out given the sheer enormity of the situation.

With the West Indian pacers breathing fire, Srikkanth showed great application and nerve to hold his own for 82 odd minutes and scored a fine 38.

His knock included seven fours and one six, which signalled intent to counter fire with fire, and by the time he was dismissed by Malcom Marshall, the writing on the wall was clear...India were not going down without a fight!

Srikkanth's pyrotechnics with the bat set the tone for India to recover, and though they did fumble and were skittled out for a mere 183 later on, still it gave them enough confidence to match West Indies shoulder to shoulder.

Balwinder Sandhu's magical in-swinger!

Balwinder Sandhu produced a magical in-swinger to dismiss Gordon Greenidge (India.com)

Now an opening combination of Greenidge and Haynes would be enough to send flutters down the spines of opposition bowlers, and given their incredible track record, the stage was set for the duo to hammer the Indian bowling all around the ground.

Haynes had hit a couple to the fence and with Greenidge limbering up, slowly but steadily, a hail of fours and sixes was very much expected by the 24,609 strong crowd.

But as they say...'Cometh the hour, cometh the man', it was Sandhu of all people who delivered a telling blow to West Indian hopes, thanks to an incredible in-swinger, which uprooted Greenidge's stumps and left him gaping!

Would it go out or in, was the question in Greenidge's mind, and as he chose to shoulder arms, a supposed out-swinger suddenly reared in and knocked off his furniture.

That wicket still remains the defining moment in Sandhu's short career, and gave India the impetus to have a go at the rest of West Indies' batsmen.

Kapil takes a blinder!

Kapil Dev is mobbed after his spectacular catch! (India.com)

Despite the loss of Greenidge and Haynes, Richards went about his usual style of batsman ship, and hammered seven fours, thus threatening to make the contest a no-show.

But just when it seemed that West Indies were barnstorming back into the game, Kapil took a stunning catch to dismiss Richards, and swung the game in India's favour.

Richard's mistimed a hook of Madan Lal and as the ball sailed towards mid-wicket, Kapil ran a good 20 odd yards to take a fine catch over his shoulders and send Indian fans jumping with joy.

Kapil's amazing effort meant that West Indies had lost it's key player, and that proved to be the turning point as India seized initiative and sent the rest tumbling!

Awesome Twosome!

And last but not the least come in Lal and Amarnath, who wrecked West Indies' middle-order with some canny seam-bowling, thus forever etching their names in Indian cricket history.

Lal (3 for 31) and Amarnath (3 for 12) landed the sucker punch when it really mattered and sent Lloyd's men crashing back to earth.

The West Indian batsmen had no clue as to how to counter bowling of such sheer accuracy, as both bowlers took wicket after wicket and scripted history for India.

Despite being counted amongst the breed of 'military medium pacers', Lal and Amarnath aptly rose to the occasion and proved that even shrewd bowling can win you matches.

Amaranth was named Man-of-the-match for his heroics and though India were annihilated 5-0 by Lloyd's men at home following the cup triumph, still it remains one of India's best ever bowling performances.

Though Mahendra Singh Dhoni did replicate Kapil's achievement by winning the tournament in 2011 on home soil, 1983 will always be the year in which India firmly established itself as a major power in world cricket. 

As chronicled above, the heroics of Kapil and his motley bunch of players allowed an entire nation to rediscover it's love for the 'gentleman's game' and kick started a cricketing renaissance in the process.

With Kapil gleefully lifting aloft the trophy on the Lords balcony...world cricket had seen the emergence of a new power...and it was indeed India!