What If: Kapil's Devils had lost the 1983 World Cup final

#3 Sachin Tendulkar might not have taken up cricket

When India won the 1983 World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar was a 10-year-old kid. The victory made a big impact on the future “Little Master”. Though Tendulkar was born to play cricket, India’s success in the 1983 World Cup instilled the self-belief in him and the dream to win a World Cup for his country.

In an advertisement prior to the 2011 World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar was seen saying that he was just 10 years old when he saw what it meant to play and win a World Cup.

Sachin’s brother, Ajit Tendulkar, took him to Ramakant Achrekar when he was 11 – and the rest is history.

At 15, Sachin notched up a record partnership with his friend Vinod Kambli playing for his school Shradhyashram Vidyamandir. At 16, he was drafted into the Indian senior squad and for the next 24 years the little champion from Mumbai went on to break every possible batting record. Moreover, his record of 100 international hundreds is unlikely to be broken by any batsman anytime soon.

Without the World Cup win in 1983, we could have been deprived of seeing arguably the greatest batsman of all time.