The silver jubilee of one of Indian cricket’s most significant wins — the World Championship of Cricket at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 10, 1985 — hasn’t been heralded with fanfare. Surprising, because the importance of winning that tournament is as much as that of the 1983 World Cup triumph.
For, if 1983 showed that India could play one-day cricket and the West Indies were beatable, 1985 proved that the 43-run win at Lord’s was no fluke, says Ravi Shastri, who played a pivotal role with 182 runs and eight wickets in the tournament; he was named Champion of Champions for his effort.
“Our victory just shut everyone up… those who said that 1983 was a fluke were proved wrong simply because very few teams win two major world events in a span of two years. That we beat Pakistan in the final made it special,” Shastri told DNA.
The core of the ‘80s side, which won the World Cup and the World Championship of Cricket, also triumphed in the Asia Cup (April 1984) and the Rothmans Trophy (March 1985).
Less than a fortnight after their World Championship win, this time led by Kapil Dev, they upset Pakistan at Sharjah. India were bowled out for just 125 but they whittled down Pakistan for just 87.
“There was no question that that 1980s side was one of the finest. The 1985 team was an ever better fielding side than the 1983 one because of the presence of someone like Mohammad Azharuddin. Our 1985 side would give any ODI team of today a run for its money. We had the right blend of youth and experience and we had a fine set of all-rounders. Azharuddin was showing his class, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan was a raw talent and Sadanand Viswanath was an outstanding wicketkeeper,” Shastri added.
For Shastri, personally, the tournament was special. “It was huge for me. At that time to be named the player of the tournament in a world event was something else… That was a tremendous era for Indian cricket.”
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