B*LL*CKS CALLED 83 MOMENT

Ever since śrīkānt kiḍāmbi (that's श्रीकान्त् किडाम्बि, not किदम्बि as all naarthies pronounce it) leapt in the air and smashed the shuttle onto the mat, there's one utterly irritating phrase everyone seems to use "This is badminton's 83 moment". 

As usual, this is an extremely narrow view and has very little basis in reality. BCCI hardly was a behemoth that it would ultimately become a decade and a half later. But that's for later, first let's take a look at the results. If winning the World Cup was supposed to be that great of a kick off point giving endless confidence and self-belief to win from any situation, it should have an immediate impact right?

From the day after winning the 1983 World Cup to the day the 1987 World Cup ended, India played 80 ODIs, won 37 matches and ding ding ding LOST 38 matches. India lost more matches than they won. If one removes the results against the Bangladesh & Zimbabwe of the day, Sri Lanka and....Zimbabwe, it reads: Played 67, Won 27, Lost 36! That's a terrible record for a team that purportedly turned the corner. India had a losing record against every team except New Zealand. India lost ODI series at home to Australia, England, Pakistan & West Indies. Reminder that Australia were going through their worst ever low from 1984 to about 1986 due to the simultaneous retirements of Greg Chappell, Rodney Marsh & Dennis Lillee.

The reason why this era is fondly remembered is because India managed to win the 1985 World Championship of Cricket, held to celebrate 150 years of White Settlement (Can you imagine such a "celebration" today?) in Victoria. Australians and Englishmen kept complaining about too much cricket. One could rightly dismiss it as sour grapes but there is a teeny weeny kernel of truth in it. Even if you reject that kernel of truth, India didn't even face West Indies in the tournament. Asterisk, schmasterisk. This era was bookended by the 1987 World Cup at home which India began by choking in spectacular fashion (207/2 chasing 271 with 15 overs left) to lose by 1 and ended it by choking (51 required in 54 with 5 wickets in hand & cētan śarma an ODI centurion batting at no 10) in spectacular fashion.

This is how the white & limited overs red ball cricket went during those 4 years. The record in test cricket was utterly pathetic. West Indies toured India a few months after losing an era defining final and went absolutely medieval on India's derriere. They won the 6 test series 3-0 with each win an absolute evisceration. Marshall took 33 wickets, Holding took 30. 40 years old and with no knees, Clive Lloyd scored 497 runs. The ODI series ended 5-0 in the Visitors' favour. 

India drew 2 series, home & away, against an Imran Khan-less Pakistan. England visited in 1984 and India took a 1-0 lead. That was the last test win the team saw for 18 tests and 18 months. Just like Cook's men turned it around in 2012, Gower's men turned the series on its head to win it 2-1. They also won the ODI series 4-1. India even managed to lose a 3-test series to Sri Lanka away. It wasn't until the summer of 1986 that India saw its 1st ever test win under kapil dev's captaincy. When a full strength Pakistani side finally, permanently under Imran Khan visited in the spring of 1987, India saw the ultimate humiliation: losing a test series at home to the most hated nation. India also managed to lose the ODI series 1-5. Do you know the secret of the 1 win? It wasn't a win. It was a tie. Under the rules of those days, the team with fewer wickets was declared winner in case of a tie. Also, when kapil bowled the last ball, India didn't have the correct field according to the rules. So the umpires should have called a no-ball. It should have ended 0-6. Patrick Stewart facepalm dot gif.

This was the on-field situation. Off field situation was super funny. BCCI had to, get this, PAY Doordarshan, India's national broadcaster to telecast cricket matches. The next IPL broadcast rights is expected to fetch nearly fifty, FIFTY THOUSAND CRORES to BCCI. Just 30 years ago, BCCI had PAY to telecast India matches. Some moment that, 1983. It wasn't until a mārvāḍi businessman (it's redundant but written for emphasis) wearing Safari Suits took over BCCI that it began a monetization program. Another reminder that Ranji Trophy players were paid ₹1500 per match in the late 90s. Today, they get a 7-figure retainer. Wow that 1983 moment really delivered, eh?

Despite the monetization revolution, India still couldn't win a test away from the subcontinent from 1986 to 2000, India didn't even a win a test in Zimbabwe: drawn 1, lost 1. The only World Cup semifinal India made from 1988 to 2002 was at home in 1996 which ended in yet another humiliation. It wasn't until the early 2000s that things started to turn. Yet another reminder that India had lost more ODIs than it won until 2006 and even then it was only level. The win-loss ratio was below 1 for a further 2 years before it finally started an upward tick. India still have not won more tests than they have lost.

If it takes almost 20-25 years for a sport to become, for a lack of better word, dominant (in terms of results not popularity) after said 83 Moment, I shudder to think what would happen to a less moneyed sport like badminton. Success only in 2100 then.

1983 was a glorious moment but to credit the successes of 2010s to something that happened 27 years ago, that is not a great moment. It was an ecstatic moment but not a "turning point".