Why Champions Trophy win could be sweeter

If India end up beating New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final at Dubai on Sunday it will be on a day shy of the 40th anniversary of the 1985 World Championship of CricketOn March 10 1985 Sunil Gavaskarrsquos Indians outclassed Javed Miandadrsquos Pakistanis to win the final by eight wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground MCGThe 1985 triumph was significant Not only did the tournament involve all Test playing nations but it also proved that Indiarsquos triumph in the 1983 World Cup less than two years ago was not a flash in the panIndia captain Sunil Gavaskar holds aloft the 1985 BampH World Championship of Cricket trophy after beating Pakistan at MCGFive wins in a rowIndia beat Pakistan England Australia and New Zealand before meeting Pakistan again in the finalLike the current Indian team the then side had lost the last Test series they figured in mdash against England earlier in the year Doubtless victory in the opening game against Pakistan at the MCG was just the confidencebooster the Indians needed For this was only the second time in 12 ODIs that India had ended up winningIt was the Australian publicrsquos first sighting of Mohammed Azharuddin and they loved what they saw when the young gun scored an unbeaten 93 to help India go past Pakistanrsquos 183Champion of champions Ravi Shastri holds up the CupEngland who had tormented India in the 198485 Test and oneday series were up next as India travelled to Sydney A massive 86run victory for Gavaskarrsquos side made them a dangerous team in the tournament This was the game that kicked off Ravi Shastrirsquos impact performances in the tournament Although he scored only 13 while his opening partner Krishnamachari Srikkanth smashed a 53ball 57 in Indiarsquos total of 2359 Shastri sent back Mike Gatting Vic Marks and Phil Edmonds the first two players in the space of four runs with wicketkeeper Sadanand Vishwanath in the thick of things in all three dismissalsShastri Siva too goodLeggie Laxman Sivaramakrishnan was brilliant in claiming the wickets of Martyn Moxon David Gower and Allan Lamb As for Srikkanth his form on Australian soil kicked in ldquoHis Srikkanthrsquos first scoring strke was an inside edge but his exploits thereafter would have put a flamethrower to shame so scorchingly brilliant was itrdquo wrote Sportsworld magazinersquos David McMahonIndian viewers woke up to the sound of timber as it were on March 3 when Kapil Dev and Roger Binny had three Graeme Wood Robbie Kerr and Allan Border of their four early wickets bowled as Australia were reduced to 174 They managed only 163 before Shastri 51 and Srikkanth 93 put India on the victory pathThe semifinal against New Zealand was probably the toughest game in the competition for Gavaskarrsquos men Shastri 331 and Madan Lal 437 helped bowl out the Kiwis for 206 Shastri got his second 50plus score in the tournament But he and Azharuddin fell for India to be in a spot of bother at 1023 That was before Dilip Vengsarkar 63 not out and Kapil Dev 54 not out got together and stitched an unbeaten 105run stand for the fourth wicket off only 74 balls to give India their fourth victory on the bounceldquoThe lsquoHaryana Hurricanersquo snuffed out the challenge with a tremendous display of power hitting It was the biggest clash of the season mdash Richard Hadlee versus Kapil Dev The result of the match hinged on it Kapil scored a knockoutrdquo reported R Mohan in The Sportstar magazineMeanwhile Pakistan too had been impressive seeing off the West Indies in the semifinals Clive Lloydrsquos team had only recently clinched the World Series Cup triangular series involving hosts Australia and Sri LankaThe India v Pakistan final at the MCG began with Pakistan opting to bat All they could get was 1769 Later Shastri and Srikkanth did justice to their form with 60plus scores Shastri stayed unbeaten and justifiably fancied his chances to be gifted the Audi car as Champion of Champions Itrsquos apt that the word lsquoChampionsrsquo adorns the silverware of todayrsquos prize in Dubai And Shastri will be there to see the action unfold as will 1985 skipper Sunil Gavaskar The big question though is will things go as per plan like they did in 1985Brief scoresPakistan 1769 in 50 overs J Miandad 48 I Khan 35 K Dev 323 L Sivaramakrishnan 335 lost to India 1772 in 471 overs K Srikkanth 67 R Shastri 63 by eight wickets