The one question I had posed to almost every past West Indian great while researching the significance of 1983 was how they looked back at the final. Is it something they have deliberately tried to distance themselves from? Was it a bad dream, which is not to be spoken about? Or was it something they had anticipated, something which wasn’t a miracle after all? Among the many West Indians interviewed, it was most fascinating to hear Jeffrey Dujon speak on the subject.
For Dujon, it was just a bizarre day. He was insistent that June 25, 1983 was different, a day when he had a feeling that something uncanny would happen. In fact, while returning to the pavilion after having bowled India out for a paltry 183, the West Indians hardly rejoiced. Rather, Dujon remembers mentioning to Andy Roberts that he was convinced they would struggle to overhaul the relatively small target.
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‘I am not a superstitious person in that sense,’ said Dujon. ‘But I had this strange premonition that day was different. I knew we would struggle, and Andy agreed with me. Even the way I got out was destined. I had struggled hard to bring the match back in our favour and at 119, we just needed sixty-five more runs to win. Another thirty minutes of batting and it could have swung our way.’
It wasn’t to be. ‘It wasn’t an unplayable delivery [from Mohinder Amarnath], by any means, but I could not help but edge that ball onto my stumps,’ said Dujon. ‘The Gods were with India. The cricket world was destined to change.’
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