India's 1983 Prudential Cup win was no fluke

June 25th 1983 (it was dawning midnight in India) and the rousing laughter of a successful execution (sad times with Tirupur banian co. strikes and family reeling under pressure without work/business, thanks to the communists.).

Kapil's Devils had their share of luck, but there was strength in the side and options.

Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri did not figure in the XI for the semifinal and final. This indicates the depth in the side. Sunil Valson was a drinks boy, never to be invited even for the programs and the 25 lakhs cheque. The mistake was corrected later when CNN IBN pointed out. Sunil Valson seems to have settled somewhere. The quota system still prevails with TV programs making the seniors (!) to sit along with major anchors, while others are in the audience.

Syed Kirmani walked in at No. 10. The wicket-keeper batsman had a Test hundred against his name.

A glimpse at the composition of the team makes for interesting reading. Sunil Gavaskar and Srikkanth as openers — a classic combination of the stayer and the dasher. The solidity of Mohinder Amarnath and Yashpal Sharma's spirit was followed by the heavy hitting ability of Sandeep Patil and Kapil Dev.

India's lower order, with Kirti Azad, Roger Binny, Madan Lal, Kirmani and No. 11 Balwinder Sandhu, who had two away Test half centuries in Pakistan and West Indies. There was no dearth of multi-dimensional-talented cricketers in the side.

India had the attack for the English conditions. Kapil could move the ball away or bring it in at will. Sandhu and Binny were genuine swing bowlers. Madan Lal and Amarnath lacked speed, not accuracy; they pegged away. Azad bowled his mix of off-spin and off-cutters to the field. The discipline in the bowling and the fact that the bowlers comprehended their limitations meant there were no easy runs on offer; the pressure was maintained.

Srikkanth, Yashpal, Madan Lal and Binny were swift on the field. Kapil, a brilliant all-round fielder, had a strong arm, so did the others like Mohinder and Azad. Gavaskar, under pressure, pouched catches in the slips.

India has evolved in one-day cricket since. Sunil Valson, you do share the moment. We dont forget you!

Statistics (c) BCCI

Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Ave	Ct	St
BS Sandhu	8	4	2	28	11*	14	83	10	297	8	37	2	0
DB Vengsarkar	2	2	1	37	32*	37	-	-	-	-	-	1	0
K Srikkanth	8	8	0	156	39	19.5	-	-	-	-	-	3	0
KBJ Azad	3	2	0	15	15	7.5	17	1	42	1	42	0	0
M Amarnath	8	8	0	237	80	29.62	49	2	178	8	22	0	0
N Kapil Dev ©	8	8	3	303	175*	60.6	84	13	245	12	20	7	0
RJ Shastri	5	5	1	40	17	10	20.1	1	87	4	22	3	0
RMH Binny	8	6	0	73	27	12.16	88	9	336	18	19	2	0
S Madan Lal	8	6	3	102	27	34	83	8	285	17	17	1	0
SM Gavaskar	6	6	0	59	25	9.83	-	-	-	-	-	3	0
SM Patil	8	8	1	216	51*	30.85	9	0	61	0	-	2	0
SMH Kirmani (k)	8	6	1	61	24*	12.2	-	-	-	-	-	12	2
Sunil Valson	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	0	0
Yashpal Sharma	8	8	1	240	89	34.28	-	-	-	-	-	2	0

How I chose the correct Indian World Cup 07 Squad?

In a laborious process I had predicted earlier (Feb 4th 2007morning), using the Prashna process of KP Astrology, over a period of 2 hours and 50 minutes from 7.20AM, picking the divine number for each player (restricted to 10 chances out of 30), for the 8 slots, with 4 in a trouble (fitness and fanfare) and 4 to be really picked... out of the remaining 18. I did not restrict it to my favourites of 22 based on intelligent guess, while other 8 were also still in contention for the remaining 3 places.

This was the list I had in the mind when I started the prophecy.

I Sure in (8)

Dravid
Ganguly
Tendulkar
Kumble
Harbhajan
Dhoni
Zaheer Khan
Ajit Agarkar

II Fitness and Fanfare (4)

Sehwag
Yuvraj
Pathan
Munaf Patel

III Rest in the lot... (3)

Dinesh Kaarthick
Sreesanth
Robin Uthappa

IV Other favourites (6)

Raina
RP Singh
Ramesh Powar
Gautham Gambhir
Kaif
VVS Laxman

In the second lot (II), I wanted to see whether they would make it. The odds (scores) were very good for them, so they are in.

Now for the III lot, who were in the team for the Srilankan ODIs..... I chose the numbers, and looked at whether they would make it. I also looked at the 10th house, with 12th, to make sure the interests are

looked in correctly. Marked the scores, based on the transits till April 29th 2007 midnight.

I also looked the IV lot, other favourites....

Raina and RP Singh also had similar scores better than the rest (hence they are named backups, and would travel to West Indies and be readily available as unofficial candidates for India - all expenses paid by BCCI), but Ramesh Powar had the next lowest (he might be called in for cover after March 23rd, when his points are more than Harbhajan - a finger injury?), and along with Kaif and Laxman gettign even lower marks compared to the earlier selected people.

Now what about the others in the probables list.? Nothing to mention, worthwhile, and only "Inshant Sharma" had got points worth mentioning and like Ramesh Powar, his points go higher but only on April 28th only.(final day). I also feel other than RP Singh, he might be called in a cover on April 21st for the Semi Final (April 25) and Final (April 28).

A note, as I am in Chennai - I wanted to know about the chances of S Badrinath, and his score was very low, but looks like he would represent India in some form during Nov 2007 to Feb 2008 and beyond.