Srikkanth cancelled US trip mid-tournament: 83 director Kabir Khan shares World Cup story

Director Kabir Khan has shared an interesting story about the 1983 Indian cricket team. Kabir’s upcoming film, 83, follows the journey of Kapil Dev and his squad as they brought home India’s first World Cup.

As shared by Kabir, one of the players in the team, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, got married that very year in the month of March. As soon as he realised that the Indian team was selected for the World Cup, he and six other cricketers planned a trip to the US.

"Srikkanth, along with six other players, was all set to fly out as soon as the group stage ended, confident that India would be knocked out of contention soon,” Kabir shared. “All seven had booked their tickets from Mumbai to New York via London. In Srikkanth's words, 'We will play the world cup on the way to a holiday in the US.' Nobody, including the team, believed that we had a chance of making it to the semis, let alone the finals and lift the trophy."

The team had return tickets booked mid-tournament as nobody thought they would get past the group matches. The semi-finals were scheduled for June 22. However, not only did team India perform well but also ended up winning the tournament.

83 stars Ranveer Singh in the role of Kapil Dev. The film is produced by Deepika Padukone, Kabir Khan, Vishnu Vardhan Induri, Sajid Nadiadwala, Phantom Films, Reliance Entertainment, and 83 Film Ltd.