Best in the World

The World Cup began on 7 June 1975, with a match at Lord’s between India and England. On that lovely summer day the English went on to demolish India, winning the match by a whopping 202 runs. This was expected, because when the first World Cup started, India was as unprepared for one-day cricket as any team could be. But what was completely unexpected was that eight years later, on that very ground, India would win the Cup. Since then, there has been no looking back.

In this absorbing and informative book, Tom Alter and Ayaz Memon, both passionate admirers and students of the game, re-live India’s ten most exciting World Cup matches between 1983 and 1996.

Writing with nostalgia and insight, they recreate some of the most magical moments of India’s cricket history: Kapil’s spectacular 175 not out against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells in 1983; the finals of that World Cup at Lord’s when Mohinder Amarnath trapped last man Michael Holding lbw to beat the West Indies and stun the cricketing world; Chetan Sharma’s brilliant hat-trick, the first in the history of the World Cup, against New Zealand in ’92; and Jadeja’s pyrotechnics against the Pakistani quickies in the final ‘death’ overs of our quarter-final battle against Pakistan in 1996. Packed with anecdotes and interesting facts and figures, this book is indispensable for the die-hard cricket fan