Michael Holding Admits West Indies Underestimated India In The 1983 World Cup Final

Former West Indian bowling great Michael Holding was part of the side that suffered a shocking defeat to India in the 1983 World Cup final. After winning the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, the Caribbeans seemed firm favourites to lift the title for the third consecutive time. Perhaps, Holding reckons that their side had taken India far too lightly on that occasion.

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West Indies’ chances of lifting the coveted trophy were further boosted as they bowled out India for 183 in 60 overs. Known as “Whispering Death”, Michael Holding took two wickets in nine overs for 26 runs. After beating Australia and England in 1975 and 1979 respectively, Clive Lloyd’s men may have hardly thought that India would be a problem. But Kapil Dev‘s Indian side created history by defending a below-par total against a star-studded outfit. India emerged triumphant by 43 runs.

In an interview with Joy Bhattacharjya, Michael Holding candidly said that we were overconfident since they thought India weren’t a bigger fish to fry. Even though the Indian side had beaten them a couple of times before the tournament, the two-time champions were confident of upstaging them, especially with their bowling attack.

The 66-year old admitted that it is what happens when any side bowls out their counterpart rather cheaply. However, their problem of taking India for granted proved detrimental.

“I am going to be totally honest. We were perhaps overconfident. We did not think that India was going to be our problem in the World Cup. Yes, they might have beaten us a couple of times before the World Cup but we always thought we would be able to overpower them, especially with our fast bowling that we had.”

“Especially, in that final, we just took it for granted, having bowled them out that cheaply. The runs would have been knocked off quite easily. That is what happens when you take things for granted, when you underrate people and they lift their game.” Holding said as quoted by India Today.

“They were the underdogs; they had nothing to lose”: Michael Holding

The Jamaican went on to point out that the team led by Kapil Dev were the underdogs on that occasion. The all-rounder and his men performed to the best of their ability since they were under little pressure and hence were able to dethrone the West Indies.

“They were the underdogs, they had nothing to lose. Kapil Dev and that team just went out there and performed at their very best and took us by surprise because we were overconfident and took it for granted.” he added.

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