Madan Lal had butterflies in his stomach as Kapil Dev turned around and started sprinting. Viv Richards had just sent one up in the air and the Indian captain, standing at square-leg, started the famous run towards the deep square-leg fence. “I got tense as soon as Richards played that shot in the air. But I saw Kapil paaji make that remarkable run and I was confident he would take the catch,” Lal told The Indian Express. The stunning catch changed the complexion of the match and a couple of hours later, history was scripted as Kapil’s Devils lifted the Prudential Cup in the Lord’s balcony. June 25th marks the 25th anniversary of Indian cricket’s greatest moment.

Chasing 184 to win, Richards seemed to have marked Madan Lal for some special treatment and Kapil was contemplating taking him off the attack.

But Lal says he was enjoying the duel and wanted one more over. “Richards was after my life, but I asked Kapil to give me one more over. I was hoping he would perish in his recklessness. He was hitting all my good-length deliveries, so I bowled one short and quick,” he says.

Madan Lal picked two other wickets that day — Desmond Haynes early in the piece and Larry Gomes later in the game. “Haynes’s wicket triggered the collapse. But the one that got Gomes was my best ball of the tournament. It was going away from the left-hander and Sunny (Gavaskar) took the catch at slip. I believe any batsman would have edged that delivery,” he says.

... contd.