Cricket’s world order changed

In this pervasive wave of nostalgia for India’s 1983 World Cup triumph that turned the cricket world upside down we forget that the win came at Lord’s on 25 June 1983 also helped initiate moves that would change world cricket and how it was governed.

The power men of Indian cricket had all descended on London on the eve of the final. The BCCI president N.K.P. Salve, a minister in Mrs Indira Gandhi’s cabinet, and all his men were there in numbers to egg India on. Under pressure from various Indian interest groups in the UK, Mr Salve sought some extra tickets for the final.

Neither the TCCB nor the MCC obliged and the seeds of discord were sown in the cricket empire that had long been governed as if the sun never set on it.

By winning over — not so subtly it must be said — the associate members and then forming a solid Asian bloc, Indian cricket began to take initiatives that would change the very structure of the game.

Mr Salve and company were staying at the St George’s Hotel, a sprint away from the Buckingham Palace. They had called the Indian team for a prep talk on the eve of the final where Mr Salve had announced an award of Rs 25,000 to each player. With the Taj hotel providing Indian food, it was an evening to remember for Indian stomachs hungry for taste and Indian cricket minds daring to dream. Of course, no one dared speak loudly of the final or make any predictions. The Indian team was simply happy to have come this far and did not wish to spoil that mood with a wish list for the morrow. Mr Salve’s strategy had been to announce the award and say that it was to be given regardless of the result in the final so that the team could be at ease.

The team hotel in St. John’s Wood had been invaded by NRI fans but the team made an excuse about hitting the sack early before a big game. That huge clamour for tickets was to be the prime reason why the geopolitics of cricket changed forever. The BCCI thought of it as victory on and off the field and who could argue with that? Those were heady days indeed.