This June 25, as cricket-crazy fans celebrates the 36th anniversary of the country’s maiden World Cup victory, P.R. Man Singh will arguably be one of the most remembered personalities.
After all, this articulate and highly knowledgeable gentleman from the city was the manager of the winning team, quietly applauding the then Indian captain, Kapil Dev, as he lifted the coveted trophy on the balcony of the hallowed Lord’s cricket ground in England.
But after three-and-a-half-decades, what new can he keep telling the media about the historic win? The 76-year-old points to a simple comparison — everyone remembers Tenzing Norgay as the first to scale Mt. Everest.
“What was labelled as a holiday trip by many turned out to be one of the defining moments of Indian cricketing history itself,” he says.
An ‘all-rounder’
Man Singh takes pride in having been a “genuine all-rounder” in a team which was packed with bits-and-pieces cricketers who could bowl, bat and field brilliantly. For, this Hyderabadi donned multiple hats — that of an administrative manager, touring selection panel chairman and performing related roles in an era when there was no coach either.
“The joy of playing the game and the pride of representing the country led by the raw genius of Kapil were some of the decisive factors which saw us scripting history on June 25, 1983,” he asserts.
Proudly showing a miniature bat signed by the 1983 squad — his most ‘priceless’ souvenir —, he says, “It is unfair to compare the 2011 World Cup triumph by M.S. Dhoni’s team with the one in 1983. Kapil’s boys were not even underdogs. And, on the other hand, Dhoni’s team has already played so much of ODI cricket and they knew the nuances of the format and the art of playing the game better.”
Note of optimism
With Virat Kohli’s boys on the verge of sailing through to the semi-finals in the ongoing World Cup, the former HCA secretary has another miniature bat ready as he hopes for the Men in Blue to bring back the cup and have their signatures embossed on what could probably be his ‘next best souvenir’.