When the 1983 Indian cricket team played against the 1999 World Cup team

The 1983 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team has been seen together over the last few weeks after the release of the film '83'. Kapil Dev has been marshalling his troops in newsrooms and publicity events 38 years after doing so at Lord's. But did you know that the last time that team played together was not 38 years ago, but in fact against the 1999 World Cup team?

Billed as '83 vs 99' or 'Kapil's Devils vs Azhar's Army', this was a 35-over exhibition match organized before Mohammed Azharuddin's team left for England to play in the 1999 World Cup. The match was attended by 30,000 people at the Wankhede stadium and was shown live on television.

83 vs 99: Teams

Kapil Dev, then in his forties, had retired from the game five years before this match. Sunil Gavaskar, then nearing 50, also played in this match but disappointed the crowd by deciding not to bat. Some others like Sandeep Patil and Dilip Vengsarkar had retired recently and showed good form in the match.

For the 1999 team, most of the players who would make the journey to England the next month were included in the team. Sourav Ganguly, Nayan Mongia and Venkatesh Prasad were the three players rested for this match after the recent series vs Pakistan in Sharjah.

Sadagoppan Ramesh was Sachin Tendulkar's opening partner, while Azhar, Rahul Dravid and Ajay Jadeja formed the middle order. Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar, Debashish Mohanty, Anil Kumble, Nikhil Chopra were the team's bowlers, with Robin Singh playing as the all-rounder.

83 vs 99: The match

On April 18, 1999, this unusual cricket match got off to an unusual start with the two captains being flown out to the toss in a helicopter. Kapil won the toss, and invited Azhar's team to bat. There were huge cheers when the 1983 team came out together for their bowling innings but a louder one when Sachin came out to face them, according to the Cricinfo report of this match.

READ | Did Kapil Dev use a mongoose bat to create his world record in 1983?

"Kapil did remind us of the good old days by making a couple whizz past Tendulkar's nose! Tendulkar didn't disappoint the crowd either, starting slowly but then switching into top gear in scoring 115* off 98 balls," it added.

Azhar's '99 team made 292/4 in their 35 overs, with Tendulkar's century being complemented by Ramesh's 78. Kapil's team used nine bowlers, of whom only three - Madan Lal, Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri conceded no extras.

In the second innings, the '83 team was restricted to 202 in their 35 overs. "Vengsarkar and Patil showed that they still had their timing and footwork, playing some glorious drives along the ground," the Cricinfo report said, but no batsman could cross the half-century mark. Krishnamachari Srikkanth (45) and Dilip Vengsarkar (44) were the highest scorers and Madan Lal (39) provided some late entertainment.

83 vs 99: The aftermath

The 1999 cricket team won the match by 90 runs, but this match was played in a festive atmosphere and was always going to be about more than the scorecard. Rs.20 lakh each were given to the families of former openers Raman Lamba (who had died recently of a head injury sustained while fielding in a club game in Bangaldesh), and Ramnath Parker (who had been in coma for a long time then).

Ganguly, Mongia and Prasad joined the Indian team on their World Cup trip, but India suffered an early exit from this tournament. Tendulkar was appointed captain of the team for a short while after the World Cup while Kapil Dev succeeded Anshuman Gaekwad as head coach, also for a short while.