The birth of a nation at Old Trafford

“It has all begun here, (at Old Trafford) in the summer of 1983," India coach Ravi Shastri told bcci.tv recently.

India and the West Indies face each other at Old Trafford in a group stage encounter of the ICC World Cup 2019. It's 36 years after India defeated the same team at the same ground in the 1983 World Cup. Like two rivers whose courses have changed in the labyrinth of time, these two teams' fortunes have changed a lot over the years. The ebb and flow of power and the dance of unpredictable fate has reduced the West Indies to minnows and India has become a behemoth in world cricket.

A contrasting reversal in fortune as the debris of a former kingdom stands under the glory of a new regime.

June 9, 1983, when it all began. The narrow stream of hope that was born on that day would go on to become an ocean of jubilation. But first, the tale of the beginning.

India took on the West Indies in the opening match of their 1983 World Cup (then the Prudential Cup) campaign. The mighty West Indies were the defending champions, having lifted the trophy two consecutive times (1975 and 1979). India, on the other hand, were trying to find their way through the myriad of ODI mysteries. The team looked at the format like a bewildered child lost in a world of grown-ups. Who knew then that the team was a boy with the heart of a man.

The West Indies won the toss and decided to bowl first, aiming to pummel the opposition with their vicious fast bowling attack and then steamroll them with their batting prowess. India, however, had other ideas. The openers fell cheaply but Yashpal Sharma in the middle order launched a counter-attack to dismantle the West Indian bowlers. His 89 and useful contributions from Sandeep Patil, Roger Binny and Madan Lal propelled India to 262 at the end of 60 overs (back then each side had 60 batting overs). It was a monumental effort against the likes of Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts and Malcolm Marshall.

West Indies, the supreme authority of the cricket universe of the time, were seething with disbelief and rage at such outrageous defiance. India's total of 262 trembled in front of their self-belief and confident gaze. But their bowlers didn't.

The West Indies started the chase at a brisk pace but India pegged them back with wickets at regular intervals. The downward slide that started with the wicket of Desmond Haynes continued till the last man Joel Garner was stumped by Syed Kirmani off Ravi Shastri's bowling. The guile and shrewdness of the Indian bowlers had made the giant batting order collapse like a heap of rubble. They strangled the West Indian batsmen and Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri grabbed three wickets apiece. None of the batsmen crossed 40, not even the maestro - Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards.

India won by 34 runs. The world was stunned and stared with disbelief.

It was a win that sent tremors across the entire game. It announced the arrival of a new potentate, one who would go on to lay a claim on the throne and capture it a month later on June 25.

That day at Old Trafford, a cricket-crazy nation was born. Where cricket would be considered a religion, where the game would change the socio-political-economic paradigm of the society. But that's a tale for another day.