Madan Lal has picked Kapil Dev’s 1983 World Cup-winning side will come out on top if there is a hypothetical match between MS Dhoni’s 2011 World Cup winners and Kapil Dev’s 1983 champions.
Kapil Dev was the first captain to lead the Indian cricket team to World Cup success in 1983 while MS Dhoni repeated the feat in 2011, winning the ODI World Cup after a 28-year wait.
Madan Lal Had No Doubts About Winner Of A Hypothetical Match Between MS Dhoni’s 2011 WC Winning Team And Kapil Dev’s 1983 Champions
Indian cricket has been blessed with some phenomenal captains who have done the country proud with their achievements on the field. Cricket has given the nation some of its finest sporting celebrities. The Kapil Dev-led side earned India its first success with the 1983 World Cup win while MS Dhoni’s team repeated it 28 years later.
On the 38th anniversary of India’s first-ever triumph at the ODI World Cup, the Kapil Dev-led side appeared to relive some memories from the nation’s maiden World Cup triumph. When asked to pick the winners of a match between the 1983 side and the 2011 team both of which won the World Cups, Madan Lal had no doubt that the team he played with would’ve come out on top.
“We would have won definitely. We had all the fighters in our team, they wouldn’t have let the World Cup go. Everybody will get a chance to do well, they would have definitely won the game,” Madan Lal said.
Roger Binny also sided with Kapil Dev & Co., saying the team would’ve won if the match was played at England’s iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.
“If we were playing at Lord’s we would have definitely won,” Binny said.
The 1983 World Cup saw underdogs India defeating the mighty West Indies.
India Won 1983 World Cup Defeating West Indies At Lords And MS Dhoni Repeated The Feat 28 Years Later In The 2011 World Cup
Kapil Dev’s men had only managed to put 183 runs on the board in 54.4 overs but despite the low total, they didn’t lose hope. Mohinder Amarnath was the star with the ball for India, picking up 3 wickets for 12 runs while Madan Lal also contributed three scalps. In the end, the Windies were bundled out for 140 runs in 52 overs.
MS Dhoni & Co. then repeated the feat as India defeated Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup final at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium. The Jharkhand-born wicket-keeper batsman was among the top performers in the match, scoring 91 runs and sealing the fate of the title with an iconic six straight down the ground.
Gautam Gambhir, the other hero who top-scored with 97 in that final, is irked that MS Dhoni’s six became the defining moment of India’s World Cup triumph and not Yuvraj Singh’s all-around contribution in the tournament. With 362 runs at an average of 90.5 and 15 wickets at an average of 25.13, Yuvraj Singh was a key player in India’s second ODI World Cup win after a hiatus of 28 years and deservingly won the Player of the Tournament award.