40 years of World Cup victory: Who is PR Man Singh? The unlikely hero of the ’83 squad without whom the trophy would not have been possible

On this day forty years ago, the Kapil Dev-led team India won the first ODI World Cup trophy. On 25 June 1983, a historic moment occurred in world cricket that changed the game forever. It is true that if India had not won the third edition of the Cricket World Cup, Indian cricket and world cricket would not have been where it is today. 1983 was the year that cricket actually replaced hockey as the country’s unofficial national sport. The 14 men who went to England to create history themselves did not know that they would return with the cup. Some members of the team had booked tickets for a holiday immediately after the first round of the tournament as they knew they would not be able to qualify for the next stage of the tournament which included teams such as England, Australia and the West Indies.

#this day In 1983, the moment of victory for India _

Kapil Dev reached him first @cricketworldcup Won the final by 43 runs over West Indies pic.twitter.com/u3oewIaJnX– ICC (@ICC) 25 June 2021

But plans had to change and they did as India improved their game despite losing three out of four warm-ups, reached the final and defeated the reigning world champions to lift the trophy. The visuals of Kapil lifting the trophy can still give goosebumps to a billion Indians. Even for those who were not born then.

Read this also | India’s historic 1983 Cricket World Cup win: Everything you wanted to know about Kapil Dev’s team – in pictures

Meet PR Man Singh, the faithful servant of Indian cricket

Undoubtedly, there were 14 heroes who worked hard to bring the cup to India. But there was also an unlikely hero who should be equally appreciated and admired. He was former cricketer PR Man Singh, who won multiple titles in that tournament in 1983. Man Singh, also known as ‘Man Sahab’ in Indian cricket circles, was everything for Team India. He was part of the selection panel that picked the team for the World Cup and made Kapil the leader of the team for the mega event. He was also the manager of the Indian team. Ravi Shastri, a member of the World Cup winning team, called him a ‘one-man army’. Man Singh did everything from collecting cricketers’ kits from the board to booking tickets, calling taxis and making arrangements for food in England. And all done on a very low budget. Remember money came after board. It was a tough time financially.

Man Singh had retired from the game long ago but still remained a faithful servant of Indian cricket. In the Kabir Khan-directed film 83, which chronicles the Indian team’s journey in that tournament, Man Singh can be seen as the hardworking, honest manager of the Indian cricket team. He was also such a player who believed in the team more than the players. He had a lot of faith in Captain Kapil and that was the reason why he recommended him as the captain for that tournament. Man Singh has been a coach many times and also a mentor on many occasions. He became a bridge between the players in that tournament and ensured that the issues of the players were resolved immediately so that the performance of the team on the field was not affected.

When Man Singh forced a journalist to ‘eat his words’

Man Singh knew the difficulties of being a cricketer in that era and that is why he worked hard to make things as easy as possible for the cricketers. He was a former cricketer himself, having played a few first-class matches for Hyderabad between 1965 and 1969. He later moved into administration and his first stint as manager of the Indian cricket team was in 1978 when India toured Pakistan.

Man Singh was not on the field during the World Cup but his hard work behind the scenes put the players at ease. He also shared a hilarious story of how he made a journalist ‘eat his own words’. quite literally. David Firth of Wisden predicted that India would not win the cup. In one of his articles, he wrote that if he won, he would ‘eat his words’. When he did so, Man Singh wrote him a letter asking: ‘What do you have to say now, Mr David?’

A photograph was published in the September issue of Wisden in which David could be seen holding a piece of paper in his mouth. He wrote, ‘India made me taste my words.’