Kapil Dev Salutes 1983 Cricket World Cup-Winning Team, Calls His Devils ‘Special Characters’

Hailing his 1983 Cricket World Cup-winning teammates as ‘special characters,’ former India captain Kapil Dev said a movie could be made about each one of them. Kapil was speaking during a promotional event of the film ‘83’ – that brings the inside stories of India's first major triumph 38 years ago at Lord’s. (More Cricket News)

 “Character is the most important thing. If we pick up all fourteen and Yash, I think everybody has a character. When you want to achieve something as big as that, everybody needs to have a character,” Kapil said in an emotional tribute to his teammates.

 Rank underdogs in Eighties in the ODI format, the Kapil Dev-led Indian team stunned favourites West Indies in the final by 43 runs to lift the Prudential World Cup at the Lord’s. Kapil’s ODI best of 175 not out also came in that very World Cup against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells in Kent.

Regarded as one of the finest all-rounders of all time, Kapil Dev said the memorable victory would not have been possible without his teammates.

“We all play cricket. If I look back, I think everybody has a character in the sense that they are not pushovers. You give them a lot of respect for not being a yes man, but they are ready to die and at the end of the day, they were all brilliant characters.

“You can make a movie about everybody. I was the captain but I think I was not even half good or even quarter without the support of seniors," added Kapil.

India’s 1983 World Cup win also changed Indian cricket for ever. MS Dhoni-led India to two more World Cups -- the T20 World Cup in 2007 and the 50-over Cricket World Cup in 2011 at home.

Directed by Kabir Khan, ‘83’ features Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev and Deepika Padukone as Romi Bhatia (Kapil Dev’s wife). The film hits the silver screens on December 24.

For the role, Ranveer Singh played cricket for four hours a day for a period of six months to get into the shape of Kapil Dev in the film.

The likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Syed Kirmani, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Kirti Azad and Sandeep Patil, part of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning team, were also present during the event.