83 director Kabir Khan reveals interesting stories he uncovered while making film

The 1983 Indian cricket team had booked return tickets post qualifier matches, 83 director Kabir Khan reveals interesting stories he uncovered while making film

83 is an upcoming Indian sports drama film directed by Kabir Khan which revolves around the true story of India's incredible cricket World Cup victory in 1983.

There are several interesting aspects and facts from India's World Cup journey of how things turned out to be. Similarly, one such fact about the 1983 cricket team was brought to light.

The team had return tickets booked during mid-tournament as nobody thought that they would get past the group matches that ended on the 20th of June 1983. The semi-finals were scheduled for the 22nd of June.

In fact, Seven of the team's cricketers, some of whom were recently married had planned vacations with their wives as soon as the group matches ended. They had even booked their tickets to New York on the night of the 20th of June.

Director Kabir Khan said, "I had 100 fantastic stories and I could pick only 25 from the mountain of material I had with me. That's the reason it took me close to a year-and-a-half to finalise the script. The film is not just from the players' point of view, but also that of the commentators and the spectators. There are several layers."

He added, "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. 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."

This adds to the fact that nobody expected India to perform so well at the tournament, not even the Indian team themselves. But against all odds, not only did team India perform well but also ended up winning the whole tournament, etching a place for themselves in the history of cricket.

Before India's historic win at the 1983 World Cup, India was non-existent on the world map when it came to sports and no one expected Team India to perform well let alone win the World Cup.

The audience will be witnessing the experience and the journey of Kapil's Devils, as the team was called, winning the World Cup through the team's perception when the movie finally hits the screens.