THE GAME CHANGERS

Ahead of the upcoming film 83, on India’s first cricket World Cup victory, here’s a look at how a handful of Indian sportspeople overcame every odd to emerge world-beaters.

- KATHAKALI CHANDA

In 1975, at a camp for under-22 cricketers in Mumbai, Kapil Dev and his teammates were served two chapatis and a spoonful of vegetables at the end of a sapping practice session. As he grumbled about the stingy portions, Dev was asked to take up the matter with administrator Keki Tarapore. “Sir, nobody can fill his belly with such a small serving. And I am a fast bowler,” 16-year-old Dev had told Tarapore, who had played a solitary Test for India. “Young man,” Tarapore had replied in jest, “India has been playing international cricket for over 40 years... it hasn’t produced a single fast bowler. Fast bowler? That’s the best joke I’ve heard in ages.”

Three years later, Dev recalls in his autobiography Straight From The Heart, he made his Test debut against Pakistan, where he rattled a much-vaunted batting lineup with his searing pace, despite meagre returns in wickets. In the 52 Tests he played between July 1979 and December 1983, Dev picked up 17 five-fors. Considered an aberration in a country that famously nurtures its spinners, Dev has been credited by West Indian pacer Ian Bishop for laying the foundation for a future generation of pacers.