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Meet the real ‘heroes’ of 1983 who changed the fortunes of cricket in India

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 It has been almost four decades since the 1983 World Cup, but even today the historic final between India and West Indies continues to hold a special place in the hearts of Indian cricket fans.

Kapil Dev’s running catch to dismiss Sir Viv Richards is still etched in the memories of the generation that cheered India through the nail-biter of a final at Lord’s on June 25, 1983.

The victory was important in many ways. It scripted a new era for Indian cricket. Up against Clive Lloyd’s mighty West Indies side and with just 183 runs to defend, Kapil’s Devils did the impossible by delivering a memorable performance to lift the prestigious trophy.

Why was beating the West Indies no joke back then?

During ’80s, the West Indies were an invincible side and they were title contenders whenever they used to take part in any World Championships. In that period, even the best batters of the world would be wary of facing the deadly West Indies bowlers, who used to play with real aggression.

They won the 1975 and 1979 World Cups and their domination made teams believe that there is one West Indies and then there are the rest of the sides in the world.

The 1983 World Cup was expected to follow similar lines, with the Windies eyeing a hat-trick of titles. But on June 25, the Kapil Dev-led side scripted history and convincingly compelled the rest of the world to believe that teams from Asia can lay their hands on the trophy as well.

After the historic feat, the Indian cricket team have won two more world titles till date – the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 ODI World Cup – but what Kapil Dev’s team achieved in England towers over all else.

Now, the much-awaited movie ’83’ starring Ranveer Singh and others is all set to be released on Friday. To celebrate the occasion, IANS revisits the 1983 World Cup heroes to find out what they are doing now.

Kapil Dev: He was the captain of the Indian team in 1982-87 and led India to the historic World Cup win. He took that brilliant catch running backwards to dismiss the dangerous-looking Sir Viv Richards in that tournament. The Haryana Hurricane kept playing international cricket till 1994, notching up 434 Test wickets in 131 Test matches, a record broken in 2000 by Courtney Walsh. Later, he served as an India coach. Now he is associated with a TV news channel as a cricket expert and is also a professional golfer. He also has invested in a few restaurants.

Sunil Gavaskar: The ’83 World Cup might not have been his best outing, but the expertise of the living legend did help the team in their campaign to bring home the trophy. After retiring in 1987, he has served as the vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, BCCI interim president, and Chairman of the ICC cricket committee. Today, Gavaskar is counted among the world’s finest cricket commentators. Gavaskar is also a director at the Professional Management Group (PMG).

Mohinder ‘Jimmy’ Amarnath: He was the vice-captain of the World Cup-winning team in 1983 and Man of the Match in both the finals and semi-finals. He picked up three wickets for 12 runs and also scored a crucial 26 in the finals. He later presented a weekly cricket coaching programme on television in the early ’90s, ‘Cricket with Mohinder Amarnath’. Now based out of Goa, Amarnath is a cricket analyst for various news channels.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth: The explosive opener scored the highest (38 runs) in the low-scoring 1983 World Cup final. And he played some good knocks throughout that World Cup. After he hung up his bat in competitive cricket, he coached India A, served as chief India selector, later was an IPL mentor and was also seen commentating on the TNPL. He also penned newspaper columns during IPL 2018 and is running his own business at present.

Balwinder Sandhu: The Mumbai-born pacer had dismissed opener Gordon Greenidge, who was a player of repute in ODIs. He also scored 11 runs and took two wickets in the summit clash. He coached the Mumbai team in the ’90s but was later out of the limelight till the ’83’ team took him on board to coach the actors.

Madan Lal: He took the crucial wickets of Desmond Haynes, Sir Viv Richards and Larry Gomes in the historic final. Following retirement, he coached the UAE team and even the Indian national team for a while. At present, he is a cricket analyst on TV channels and runs a cricket academy at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi.

Syed Kirmani: He bagged the award for the best wicket keeper in the 1983 Cricket World Cup and is considered to be one of the best glovemen to have played for India. He starred in the 1985 Bollywood film, ‘Kabhi Ajnabi The’. He also received the 2015 Col C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.

Yashpal Sharma: He was a middle-order batter and also scored the second highest number of runs in the 1983 World Cup. Post-retirement, he became the chief selector for Team India. In 2014, he was appointed head of Delhi’s cricket advisory committee. He passed away earlier this year in July.

Kirti Azad: He was a batter in the 1983 World Cup team and retired from all forms of cricket in 1986. Thereafter, he followed in the footsteps of his father, former Union minister and chief minister of Bihar, Bhagwat Jha Azad, and entered politics. He has served as a Lok Sabha member and recently joined the Trinamool Congress after quitting the Indian National Congress.

Roger Binny: He was an all-rounder who impressed everyone with his bowling performance in the 1983 Cricket World Cup. He also took the highest number of wickets in that tournament. He is at present serving as an office-bearer at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).

Ravi Shastri: He was an all-rounder. Later, he became the director of Indian national cricket team in 2014 and later served as its head coach until recently, when Rahul Dravid was given the position.

Dilip Vengsarkar: He was a batter and took over the captaincy from Kapil Dev after the 1987 Cricket World Cup. He runs three cricket academies, two in Mumbai and one in Pune. These academies give cricket training for free to selected players.

Sandeep Patil: He was also a batter in the 1983 World Cup-winning squad. He was subsequently offered a role in the musical romantic drama, ‘Kabhi Ajnabi The’ (1985), which also featured Syed Kirmani and Sachin Tendulkar in a bit role. He coached Team India and the ‘A’ team. He also served as the Kenyan team’s coach for a while and was the chairman of selectors in the BCCI.

Sunil Valson: He was the only player in the squad who did not play a single match in the 1983 World Cup. In recent times, he has served as team manager of the Delhi Capitals IPL team.

P.R. Man Singh: He was the team manager and an integral part of the World Cup victory in 1983. He was the only official to accompany the team to England.

Bollywood

Kangana Ranaut’s Emergency To Finally Hit Theatres In 2025, New Release Date Announced For 4th Time

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Kangana Ranaut's Emergency To Finally Hit Theatres In 2025, New Release Date Announced For 4th Time

It will indeed be a happy new year for actress Kangana Ranaut as her much-hyped film, Emergency, will finally see the light of the day in 2025. After several setbacks, delays and controversies, the film is now all set to hit the silver screens on January 17, 2025.

Kangana took to her social media handles on Monday to announce the new release date of Emergency. “17th January 2025 – The epic saga of the nation’s most powerful woman and the moment that altered India’s destiny. #Emergency – Unveils Only in cinemas on 17.01.2025! (sic),” she wrote.

In the poster, Kangana can be seen acing the ‘Indira Gandhi look’, along with Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talapde, Vishak Nair and Milind Soman. While Kher will be seen essaying the role of JP Narayan, Shreyas will play Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Vishak Nair grabbed eyeballs as Sanjay Gandhi in the trailer, and Milind Soman will play Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in the upcoming film.

This is the fourth time that the makers have announced a release date for Emergency. The film was first supposed to release in November 2023, but it was then pushed to June 2024. The film was once again postponed to September 6, 2024, however, just days before the D-day, the Censor Board refused to grant the film a valid certificate.

Several Sikh bodies objected to certain incidents shown in Emergency and moved court, stating that the film will show their community in a negative light. Taking in cognizance their plea, the CBFC did not give the censor certificate to Emergency, forcing the makers to push the film indefinitely.

It is to be noted that Emergency is even more special for Kangana as it marks her debut as a director. The film also stars Mahima Chaudhry, Satish Kaushik, and others in key roles.

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Singham Again Movie Review: Ajay Devgn, Rohit Shetty’s ‘High-Voltage’ Ramayana Is Explosively Entertaining!

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Singham Again Movie Review: Ajay Devgn, Rohit Shetty's 'High-Voltage' Ramayana Is Explosively Entertaining!

Title: Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar and Shweta Tiwari.

Where: In cinemas

Rating: 3 stars

Positioned and postured as a full-blown action entertainer to be enjoyed with your family, Rohit Shetty brings Ajay Devgn’s Bajirao Singham back to narrate the modern day Ramayana, replete with a bunch of B-town stars to do justice to the epic saga that shows the ultimate victory of good over evil. So, right from Sita-haran (Sita’s abduction) to Jatayu’s sacrifice to Lanka-dahan, every chapter must unfold with cinematic liberty and melodrama that must serve justice to every key situation of the epic battle.

And truth be stated, we get the events, and we even cheer for every sequence and subtext that the film mounts to showcase the Ram Vs Ravan battle. Right from the unconditional love of Laxman and Bharat to the ultimate loyalty of Hanuman to Sita’s cruel abduction– every character has a context placement and contemplation to ruminate over. But hang on a sec! Who is Deepika placed as in this tale? She is neither Shabri, Shurpanakha or Mandodri. Her character seems as misfit and misplaced as her poor acting and her wobbly (read: horribly put on and off-putting) accent!

While the rest of the star cast plays to the gallery amidst the ear-splitting background score, Deepika sticks out like a sore thumb as the lady Singham.

At 2 hours and 24 minutes, Shetty unleashes the mega star-power of his film, and how! From Simmba (Ranveer Singh) to Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar), everybody jumps in to offer their bit to ensure that the audience remains engaged and entertained. Equally engaging and pleasant are the backdrops against which the makers have set the pieces of the narrative. Every locale is either scenic, handsomely mounted or ‘explosive’ with the trademark sign of Shetty pasted all over.

The story is simple and straight to state the obvious. Bajirao Singham nabs a notorious terrorist (Jackie Shroff) and his arrest triggers another baddie (Arjun Kapoor) to abduct Singham’ wife (Kareena Kapoor Khan). So, what’s the connection between these two events, you may wonder! You will have to watch the film to find out the link, as Shetty gives you a backstory that sets the current tale rolling.

What’s remarkable is how the makers have designed the entry of each character, and how the sequences have been spaced out to do justice to every character that makes their presence felt. Nobody disappears or gets diluted in terms of the presence and storytelling in the name of cinematic liberty. Add to it Ranveer Singh’s over the top hysteria, Akshay Kumar’s reassuring screen-presence and Tiger Shroff’s crisp, but impactful action chops, and you would know how Shetty elevates the film as a sheer entertainer worthy of all the whistles and cheers.

The sequence where Ranveer sets Arjun Kapoor’s territory on fire or when Shetty brings Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan) to spice up the already high-voltage drama is incredible!

For a strory where you know how everything is going to unfold and conclude like, Shetty brings his A game to the table to showcase his strength –which is action and comedy–and dare we say, he doesn’t miss a single beat. While some sequences look stretched out beyond their capacities, and some could easily have been edited out, all in all one enjoys this ‘copverse’ studded with bharpoor dialoguebaazi and seemingly never ending ‘action’.

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Bollywood

Salman Khan To Shoot For Singham Again Cameo In Mumbai With 120 Guards, 30 Cops

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Salman Khan To Shoot For Singham Again Cameo In Mumbai With 120 Guards, 30 Cops

After much back and forth, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan will be fulfilling his commitment of his character Chulbul Pandey’s cameo in Rohit Shetty’s “Singham Again” and will be shooting for it amidst tight security.

the superstar will be shooting in a studio, which cannot be named due to security reasons.

The source said: “Salman Khan will be fulfilling his commitment of Chulbul Pandey cameo in “Singham Again” at 4.00 P.M. today at a Mumbai Suburban Studio. The studio name cannot be given due to security reasons.”

The source also shared that the superstar was advised to not shoot at the moment given the security reasons after politician Baba Siddique was gunned down by three assailants.

The source said: “Mumbai Police and officials had advised to not shoot at the moment for security reasons but to fulfill his commitments given to Rohit he has decided to shoot today amidst 120 individual security guards and 30 police officials.”

It was earlier reported that Salman will not be making a special appearance in the Ajay Devgn-starrer “Singham Again” amid security concerns.

The third installment from the “Singham” franchise has a motley of stars. It has Ajay as Bajirao Singham, Ranveer Singh as Simmba, Akshay Kumar as DCP Veer Sooryavanshi, Kareena Kapoor as Bajirao Singham’s wife Avni, Deepika Padukone as police officer Shakti Shetty, Ravi Kishan, Jackie Shroff and Tiger Shroff.

Actor Arjun Kapoor will be seen playing the role of antagonist named Danger Lanka. The film will have a contemporary spin to the “Ramayana” and is slated to be released on Diwali on November 1.

It was on October 12 night, when NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui was murdered by three armed men. He was attacked outside son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai’s Bandra area.

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