<Li> India's record: 0 − 3 (Group B, 4th place) </Li> <Li> West Indies's record: 4 − 0 and 1 washout (Champions) </Li> <P> Going by India's past record in one - day internationals and in the World Cup, they were not expected to even progress beyond the Group stage of the 1983 Cricket World Cup which was yet again held in England, despite having the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Dilip Vengsarkar, Yashpal Sharma and Sandeep Patil in batting and a decent set of all - rounders in captain Kapil Dev, who was now one of the best all - rounders in world cricket, Mohinder Amarnath, Madan Lal, Ravi Shastri and Roger Binny . This time, the tournament format was slightly different from the previous editions . Teams were still divided among 2 groups of 4, but now each team in a group played each other twice . India were placed in Group B in the Group stage, which was considered to be the tougher of the 2 groups as it included 2 stronger opponents in the defending champions, the West Indies, whose dominance in world cricket at the time was at its peak, and Australia . World Cup debutants Zimbabwe were also in the group . The fact that the West Indies and Australia were in India's group only worsened India's prospects of putting a decent showing this time around . </P> <P> India's first match in the tournament was against the West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester . The West Indians were expected to steamroll India, but India caused a massive upset, winning the game by 34 runs in a match spread over 2 days . Middle - order batsman Sharma withstood the West Indian pace attack to score a fine half - century (89 from 120 balls, 9 fours) as India scored 262 / 8 . Then, a disciplined performance from the Indian bowlers led by all - rounders Binny (3 / 48) and Shastri (3 / 26) ensured that the West Indian batsmen could not settle down after their starts, as a result of which the West Indies were bowled all out for 228 . India followed this victory with another win against Zimbabwe at Leicester . In a one - sided match, India, bowling first, restricted Zimbabwe to 155 with Madan Lal taking 3 / 27, following which a half - century by Patil (50 from 54 balls, 7 fours, 1 six) ensured that India chased down the paltry total easily . </P>

Who captained the indian cricket team to its first odi world cup victory in 1983