A few memories from the memorable cricket World Cup of 1987. It was the first World Cup hosted by India and the first ever to be held outside the country which gave birth to the game. Going into the tournament India arguably had one of the best cricket team in years. The team was filled with batsmen of repute, though our bowling wasn't at the same level. Still with Kapil Dev, Ravi Sastri and Manindar Singh in tow it wasn't toothless by any means.
In the early part of the tournament it was heart breaking for the Indian fans when on the Diwali day at Feroz Shah Kotla, we lost to Australia by a solitary run. This series marked the arrival of Navjyot Singh Sidhu, who carved his niche by stepping out to effortlessly put the ball beyond the ropes, least expected from a rookie in the star studded team. India managed to easily overpower its other group mates New Zealand and Zimbabwe, the match against the former would be remembered for Chetan Sharma's epic hat trick.
The minnows Zimbabwe impressed everyone by their athletic fielding, looking more like gymnasts than fielders on our brown outfields. They almost snatched an upset victory against the Kiwis due to the efforts of their hard hitting, wicket keeper Dave Houghton. His century would not have gone in vain but for the running catch by Martin Crowe, which was later adjudged as the best catch of the tournament.
The other group involved the joint host Pakistan. In one of the initial games Alan Lamb hit the West Indian Courtney Walsh known for his accurate, economic bowling in the final over to snatch the match from them, who for the first time looked vulnerable. Though Vivian Richards scored a record 189 in their win against Sri Lanka, they met their Waterloo in their all important game against Pakistan. It was now the turn of Abdul Qadir, hitherto unknown as a hard hitter to hit Walsh and the West Windies out of the Cup. The mighty Windies were no more invincible. For the first time in history they failed to make it to the semis.
The semifinal line up of Pakistan vs Australia and India vs England raised the specter of a sporting war between the rival nations in the finals at Eden Garden. But the glorious game of uncertainty had something else in store. In the first semifinal at Lahore, amidst the giggling of girls in the stand exclusively for women, Imran Khan charged in to bowl. I remember the ladies singing in chorus " LE JAYENGE LE JAYENGE, HUM YEH WORLD CUP LE JAYENGE". By late afternoon they fell quite as Craig McDormott polished off the Pakistani tail. At the same time Graham Gooch was plotting against team India, practicing against couple of local left hand spinners. Next day he replicated the same against Manindar and Sastri, sweeping them and India off the Cup, shattering the dream of millions of fans.
Australia, not a fancied side at the beginning of the tournament won the cup for the first time defeating England in the final, despite a spirited fight back led by Mike Gatting. Border, their captain had his moment as the setting Sun at Eden Garden glistened his golden beard, glittering the Cup as he proudly raised it smiling.
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