Hi, The World Cup Victory in '83 by Indian Devils really catapulated Indian cricket on the world stage and more importantly, in retrospect, made the game from an elitist persuation to more a common man's game. The people did started believing that the world can be beaten by us Indians and the ready made home grown idols replaced the larger than life figures from abroad which inspired awe more than a sense of belonging in the drawing rooms. That the captain Kapil Dev, hailing from a village in Haryana and in the habit of gulping down so many litres of milk in a day made huge headlines and to me the very fact that he couldn't speak English first also made all of us small town guys believe that English is no longer an obstacle to foreign glory. So, the victory had its social ramifications too. TV was just starting and it came a god send boon for Doordarshan then and for masses too who immediately took fancy to the telecasts in an unprecedented way. I think, cricket after the '83 victory was never the same again in our country. The World Championship of Cricket in '85 subsequently only reconfirmed the belief in Indians that the pinnacle of the world is ours by right not by fluke. A watershed event in many ways and even after 25 years it just feels like what the '66 World Cup victory in Football is for any Englishman. No victory since then although a final appearance five years ago is a small solace. The 2011 World Cup at home might just be ours given the consistentcy of the Dhoni brigade as pointed out by Ravi Shastri too. Amen to that. May god give every member a long life enough to see another Indian world cup one day triumph. Can't forget it simply. Like the proverbial first love, almost.