When Kapil Dev stunned Zimbabwe and kickstarted India's dream 

For a whole generation of cricketers and more, the heroes of the 1983 triumph, Kapil's Devils, were the pioneers of cricket's indelible imprint on the country's sporting history. The win, 35 years ago, was kickstarted, perhaps, by Kapil Dev's daring knock against Zimbabwe, a manner of batting that was unseen then by any Indian in the World Cup.

Here's revisiting the epic knock of 175* against Zimbabwe:

India's abysmal track record in the lead up to 1983

It was the era when the Indian side wasn't taking the one-day format seriously. In the World Cups before this, the Indians had performed poorly, winning just one game in two editions, against East Africa in 1975. They could not win a single game through the entire 1979 edition, even against Sri Lanka, minnows at that time, and yet to achieve Test status.

The game against Zimbabwe was a crucial one as the side was placed third in Group B, below West Indies and Australia in the points table. It had been a difficult few months in the lead-up to the World Cup, as Sunil Gavaskar was replaced by a 24-year-old rookie captain in Kapil Dev.

Staring down the barrel at 17-5, Kapil walks in

Kapil Dev walked in at 17-5

Batting first, the Indian team stumbled in front of the pace unit of Peter Rawson and Kevin Curran (whose son Tom Curran has played for England). They lost opener Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth, and followed it with Mohinder Amarnath and Sandeep Patil, with the score reading 9-4.

That soon became 17-5, after Yashpal Sharma, batting ahead of Kapil Dev, was dismissed by Rawson after surviving 28 balls for nine runs. The deep batting line-up helped the captain's cause, who compiled an astonishing 175, the first-ever century by an Indian in the World Cup.

The Haryana Hurricane's 138-ball masterclass

He hit 16 fours during his knock

It wasn't all mayhem, there was calculation and awareness of the situation, along with a clear understanding of what needed to be done. He used the irregular dimensions of the ground to good effect, hitting most of his fours towards the shorter boundary, hitting as many as 16 of them.

After he reached his hundred, close to the 50-over mark, he went berserk and added 75 quickfire runs in the last ten overs to take India past 260. Along the way, he also hit six sixes in total and held the record for the fastest World Cup century then.

Knock galvanises India to World Cup triumph

India eventually won the World Cup

With one win in two editions, and no consistency in the ODI format, the Indian team wasn't even close to being called favourites before the tournament started. Gavaskar was sacked as captain, a 24-year-old Kapil Dev replaced him, but the side managed to perform well above expectations to reach the finals.

"Humko 60 overs khelna hai (We have to play 60 overs)", is what the skipper had told Syed Kirmani when the latter had walked out to bat at No.11. The fighting spirit was evident.

The knock by the captain, and the subsequent India victory, galvanised the team, helping them beat two-time champions West Indies to complete a stunning underdog story.

The epic that was never recorded

The broadcasters were on strike for the game

It was perhaps the greatest World Cup knock ever played by an Indian, but apart from those present in person at Tunbridge Wells, no one has ever seen motion footage of the innings. On that day, the BBC technicians were was on strike, and did not cover the match.

It is said that the organisers of the game were fearing that the game would end before lunch, looking at the way the Indian batting collapsed. Even the BBC, which wasn't covering the game, called up the Zimbabwe Cricket Union for an interview, with the stakes of a Zimbabwe win being high.