1983 World Cup: Mohinder Amarnath recalls the moment India were crowned champions

Mohinder Amarnath, the man who took the final wicket on June 25, 1983 consequently crowning India as World Champions recalled the winning moment a day before the 40th anniversary of the victory.

Jimmy, as he is fondly called, was at an event with the rest of the 1983 World Cup winning team on June 24 where he narrated what he felt the moment India defeated West Indies.

'As soon as the 'out' was declared, my first thought was, we have defeated the mighty West Indies,' began Amarnath.

His tale of the win was in response to a question asked by host Gaurav Kapoor about why Jimmy did not pick a stump as a souvenir?

'I ran towards the stumps to take one for myself but the wickets were buried so deep into the ground, I couldn't,' he recalled.

'The ball was lying there too, the bails were there. I could have taken all three stumps but I was so overjoyed that we have been crowned World Champions, I said to myself forget about the stumps, nothing can be greater than this title,' the 72-year-old former all-rounder said.

In the historic 1983 win at Lord's, Mohinder Amarnath was named man of the match for his all-round performance. He took 3 wickets and with the bat, he stayed at the crease for the longest period as wickets kept tumbling at the other end.

India were bowled out for 183 in just 54.4 overs, reducing their chances of winning the World Cup given the powerful batting line-up of the Windies.

But the Indian bowling attack turned the game around, with Amarnath and Madan Lal taking 3 wickets apiece to dismiss the entire Caribbean team for 140.