1983 WC win: Wanted to prove that we can play ODI cricket, says Kapil Dev

By Nitin Srivastava
New Delhi [India], June 25 : Reminiscing the 1983 World Cup win, former India skipper Kapil Dev on Friday said the side wanted to prove that they can play ODI cricket.
Team India on this day 38 years ago made history, as they won the ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time. It was India's greatest cricketing triumph at the time, as they defeated two-time winners West Indies by 43 runs to lift the coveted trophy.
"We were enjoying ourselves and we had an aim and we wanted to prove that we can play ODI cricket. Journey before the World Cup was also important as we had started playing good ODI cricket," Kapil Dev told ANI.
"Our confidence kept on increasing as the tournament progressed and we finally won on June 25," he added.
Further explaining how the Indian cricket team have evolved over the years, the former skipper said, "Administration is better, there are good facilities, so the game will be improved. Today we can have all the things which a team should have. Also, changes come over time and it doesn't take place in one day.
"There was a time when we thought whether we would qualify or not and now we think about winning, this is the difference," he added.
New Zealand on Wednesday defeated India to lift the inaugural ICC World Test Championship. Kapil Dev feels Team India has come a long way from struggling to win a game to reach the semi-finals and final of the tournament.
"Our expectations have increased, we now reach semi-finals and finals of tournament but even winning a game was a tedious task for us before," said Kapil
"You cannot win all matches or tournaments other teams too have come to play and compete," he added.