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“For a large nation, with cricket crazy millions, this was the equivalent of Nirvana. Accustomed as they were to tales of defeats, often by huge margins in almost all disciplines of sport, the average Indian sports lover had little cause of cheer. It was in this gloomy scenario that the Indian cricket team led by Kapil Dev stunned the entire cricketing world and sent the cricket fans in India to a frenzy by their dazzling performance which culminated in India winning the 1983 World Cup Cricket Championship.” Thus opens ‘Word Cup Chronicle’, an invigorating new book on World Cup matches from the very beginning in 1975 until the 1999. Packed with intimate details of each of the hundreds of matches that were played in countries around the world, the book is literally a Bible for any cricket buff worth his salt. The author Dr K N Raghavan has an interesting bio-data. He graduated in Medicine from Calicut Medical College in 1988. Two years later he joined Indian Revenue Services – Customs and Excise. At present he is the Managing Director of Kerala State Co-operative Rubber Marketing Federation. He is also the CEO of the Co-operative Medical College in Kochi. Apart from his successful professional career, what makes him a fitting author of this book is his brilliant track record in umpiring major national and international cricket matches since 1991. The icing on the cake is umpiring five one day international matches. The first chapter of the book describes the breathtaking performance by India in the World Cup of 1983. The reader is transported back to the glorious evening of 25th June when ‘Kapil's Devils’ stunned the cricketing world by defeating the mighty West Indies to win the World Cup. The author describes how the Indian team outperformed competition from the first match. The superb individual performances by the players are highlighted. He notes that the 175 runs by Kapil against Zimbabwe is certainly one of the best scores of all time. The rising tension against the colourful ambiance is vibrantly penned. The blow-by-blow account of the finals against West Indies is so vivid that it is almost like watching it live on TV. This is followed by a detailed account of the evolution of the World Cup championship starting from the Prudential Insurance sponsored event in 1975 to the superbly conducted ICC World Cup in 1999. The book traces the background to the International Test matches back in 1877 when England played Australia at Melbourne. This brings the story up to the 1960’s when seven Test playing countries played 5-day long matches against each other. A milestone is the first international one-day match played between England and Australia in 1971 starting a new trend. Though India was among the traditionalist group that frowned upon one-day matches, Raghavan says that the 1975 World Cup with its dazzling batting and brilliant bowling changed the tide forever for the world of cricket.
A separate chapter lists World cup records, trivia and interesting tidbits. You get to know records such as the highest total, largest margin victory, closest finish, maximum appearances, top ten scores, etc. Another section lists the top performers among the Indian team. World Cup Chronicle by Dr K N Raghavan, published by Cosmo Books (267 pages) is available at Fountain Head Book store at Radhakrishna Road Tel (44)-2811 2650 and a few leading books stores. Price Rs 160. By Sam Kumar
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Copyright
2010, Chennai Interactive
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For the cricket fans currently in a state of gloom, here is some cheer - a chance to relieve the golden days.
The author provides in-depth coverage of each of the World Cup matches in successive chapters which bear descriptive titles. 1979 – Caribbean Supremacy, 1983 - An Indian Summer, 1987 - Aussies Miracle, 1992 – Pakistan Steals the Thunder, 1995 – Lankan Lions Roars. Each of the matches are described along with score cards and highlights of individual performances. The crisp narrative helps you relish and re-live some of the historic games again. 
