No tuxedos for Class of '83
By R. Mohan
London, June 24.
Having conquered the world 25 years ago on June 25, the Indian cricket team of 1983 returned to the city of what is the greatest feat in Indian sports history. They arrived here on Tuesday afternoon not to the popping of flash bulbs and excessive media attention that is the norm in the international game these days.
In fact, the only sign that a champion side was here was the presence of a 3-man television crew from India. Apart from the hotel staff and the TV crew, your correspondent was the only one in the lobby to greet the heroes of yesteryear.
"We came here with a lot of hope 25 years ago, but maybe not with great expectations and we went back home with our heads held high. We return now to celebrate the greatest day in our lives," said Sunil Gavaskar, the architect of the commemorative function being held at Lord's on Wednesday.
The Indians made a sartorial point even before arrival with Gavaskar having insisted that the team will not wear the tuxedos and black ties that form the dress code for the grand dinner. The team of '83 will come to the event in the traditional Indian attire of the sherwani. The closed collar sherwani in black is what the team will be wearing while most guests are likely to turn up like in some Hollywood movie scene.
A beaming Kapil Dev who brought his flock here in the manner of a conquering emperor supported Gavaskar's logic agreeing with the little master that Indians must assert themselves. He must know a thing or two about assertion as he is the only Indian to have won a World Cup in the traditional 50:50 format.
The dinner will be held at the Long Room at Lord's, the traditional bastion of cricket and all the ancient virtues and verities that the game symbolizes.
The London trip of the Class of '83 to commemorate the World Cup win is Sunil Gavaskar's gift to Kapil's Devils. He was one of the troops back then but it is his idea that became a concept that was made concrete by his own company PMG to make this pilgrimage to Lord's possible.
The contentment in Kapil Dev's voice told the tale of how much this journey to London means to everyone who made history all of 25 years ago. "I have never been more happy in my life," he said at the team hotel in Piccadilly on Tuesday afternoon.
In public in his speeches at commemorative events and in private, Gavaskar has been wholesome in praise of India's great all rounder. So joyful are the two champions now that the happy conclusion is this is one great moment in time for Indian cricket.
Separated as they were by different backgrounds and temperament and divided by varied perspectives on the game that they played in completely different styles, there were times in Indian cricket when it seemed they were working at cross purposes. They are so much together now that the class of '83 seems like a band of brothers now.
There was a day at Tunbridge Wells long ago on which I found Sunil sitting on the threshold of the back door to the dressing room seemingly forlorn and not padded up barely 15 minutes to the start. He was too focused a player who simply did not play his cricket that way. Kapil had given me the playing XI just earlier and so I expressed my surprise to him that he was not in gear already and preparing himself mentally.
The incident, one of many, suggested certain differences between the two immensely gifted cricketers. At various times in their distinguished careers, the two have advocated that the other be left out of the playing XI, although Gavaskar swore to me that he had nothing to do with Kapil's omission from the Kolkata Test of 1984-85, which he said came at the behest of a couple of selectors who wanted to punish attitude, or lack of it.
There had been another day in Bangalore not long after the World Cup win when Kapil confided during a book taping session that he had just suggested to the selectors that Gavaskar be left out of the ODI squad. And he was. Gavaskar had hinted that people were trying o drive a wedge between them after the 1984 episode in which Kapil missed the only Test while he went on to appear in 131 such contests.
To see the two men bonding today is to see a cricket scenario suffused over with a positive vibration. The two are so capable of contributing despite the fact that a bigger chasm of the game's governance exists in that they stand on two sides of the great IPL-ICL divide. So long as Sharad Pawar remains at the helm of cricket and Subash Chandra runs his rebel league, a true rapprochement can come about only like a cricket miracle much like the World Cup victory of 1983 was.
To say it is a privilege to be present on D-Day minus a few miles from the game's cathedral, or its Mecca as it is more commonly called in a truly secular sport, is an understatement. Gavaskar's idea to give the celebration its due place in history by revisiting the very arena at which the Indian cricket team made history. Kapil Dev's enthusiasm in seeing his old flock together makes this an unforgettable moment in time. Maybe, some day the two will be together again to lend their expertise to the betterment of Indian cricket.
While it is a moot point whether that happens or not, the fact is the champs are together emotionally like never before. This is a bit like Plato and Aristotle coming together at the former's academy in ancient Athens in the pursuit of a common line of thought in philosophy. |