1983 World Cup Final: The square drive off Andy Roberts was my homage to Gundappa Viswanath, says Kris Srikkanth | Cricket News – Times of India

It tastes like vintage wine. It’s been 40 years, but it gets better and better.” That’s how Krishnamachari Srikkanth ‘Chika’ remembers that magical June of 1983.
The Chennai swashbuckler, who top-scored in the final with a 38 against the greatest pace attack of all time on a green Lord’s pitch, never believed they would even come close to achieving what they did when it all began.
“You know, I had to cut short my honeymoon because of the World Cup win,” Srikkanth said.
Srikkanth had just got married and his England stint for the World Cup was a part of a double honeymoon package.

(IANS Photo)
“I told my wife before that the first part of the honeymoon would be in England, and the second in America. The World Cup was basically a stop-over. In fact, my tickets for America were booked for after the league stage. Finally, it had to be cancelled and we came back to India after the win,” he said.
“Such was the lack of belief going in that when captain Kapil Dev said before our first match that we have come here to win, I said, ‘Kya pagal captain hain’. But all that started changing after our first game when we beat West Indies at Old Trafford.
There was no live telecast of that game. It’s a pity you guys haven’t seen that game, just as you haven’t watched the best ODI innings ever played (by Kapil Dev at Tunbridge Wells),” Srikkanth said.

“It was a bitterly cold day. Man Singh (the manager) wouldn’t allow us to move an inch from our positions in the dressing-room,” Srikkanth said.
In the final, Srikkanth’s square-driven boundary on bended knees off an Andy Roberts delivery became an iconic moment of the World Cup. Many considered it the ‘shot of the tournament’ and Srikkanth says it was his tribute to his hero Gundappa Viswanath.
“Vishy was not in the team, but he was invited for the final and he was there in the dressing-room. He was a master of that shot and the moment I hit that boundary, I tried finding him,” he said.
India had lost Sunil Gavaskar early and it was Mohinder Amarnath who told Srikkanth to carry on in the same attacking vein.

“Jimmy who told me to play my natural game and that’s what gave me the confidence. It seems surreal when I look back at the scorecard now and realize that it was the highest score. But you know, it was slightly immature of me in the way I got out — the last ball of Malcolm Marshall’s spell. If I had survived, there were spinners to follow and I could have cashed in.”
But that didn’t matter in the end and all that Srikkanth is left with are memories for a lifetime.
“There have been many ups and downs, but the win that gave India the belief that anything is possible in life remains an unmatched sensation.”

(AI image)