The Wisden Cricketer of the Century award for the best team was a straight contest between the 1983 World Cup-winning side, led by Kapil Dev, and the 1985 team which won the World Series Championships in Australia, under Sunil Gavaskar's captaincy.

The vote went in favour of the 1985 team, but Gavaskar, who received the award, said Kapil's side deserved it.

The 1983 team lost to the West Indies and Australia on its way to the final while the ’85 squad maintained an unbeaten record through the series, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan twice.

We begin a series, featuring the views of players who played in those teams. Meanwhile, which do you think was the better team: that of '83 or '85?

	Till Wisden named the 1985 Indian team as the best Wisden Indian team of the century, the 1983 team, which won the World Cup was considered as the best team. You were a part of the 1985 team that won the World Series championship in Australia. Which according to you is the best team? The 1983 team was selected according to the conditions that prevailed in England. So, they had more medium pace bowlers; they had Roger Binny, Madanlal, Mohinder Amarnath, etc. In 1985, I would say the conditions in Australia were pretty good in the sense that it helped both the good batsmen and good bowlers. There was variety in the bowling team with Ravi Shastri and myself as spinners. According to me, variety is also an important aspect of a good team. I also would say that our [Shastri and me] success in the World Series championship paved way for the arrival of spinners and saw them playing a major part in one-day cricket. It probably was the first tournament in which spinners played such a big part in the success of the side. Before that only medium pacers and fast bowlers played in one-day games. So, it was a big turn around. I feel the 1985 team won more convincingly than the 1983 team. So, I prefer to say that the 1985 team that won the World Series Championship was one of the best teams that India has ever had. What would you say about the 1983 team that won the World Cup? It was a very good team but nobody expected India to beat the West Indies and win the World Cup. Overall, the conditions suited the medium pacers and they stuck to the task. I am not saying that the 1983 team is anyway inferior to the 1985 team. How do you think your team (the 1985 team) could bowl out all the teams, except New Zealand for less than 200? Yes, New Zealand scored 206 or so against us. Apart from the final when Pakistan were 9 wickets down, we could bowl out all the other teams. That is because of the variety in our bowling attack and we also succeeded in exploiting the conditions in Australia. It is not that the wickets totally favoured the bowlers. The bowlers were good enough to exploit the conditions. The fielding standard was also of very high quality. Our batting strength also was very good, with [Krishnamachari] Srikkanth and Ravi Shastri in the top order, and [Sunil] Gavaskar, Mohnider Amarnath, Mohammad Azharuddin and Kapil Dev to follow. All-rounders like Roger Binny and Madanlal were also part of the team. Which match in the series do you cherish the most? The whole series was so good. All the players jelled so well in all the matches. We worked really hard, and we won the series. Personally, getting Javed Miandad out in the final was a big moment for me. He is such a great player and getting him out on such a big occasion, at the vital part of the innings, was a great moment for me. I still cherish the wicket. Which was the toughest match in the series? The semi-final against New Zealand. They were bowled out for 206; the only team that crossed 200 against India in the entire series. We were 50 for 2 in 25 overs. Then Kapil was promoted up in the order and he played a gem of an innings. Ultimately we won the match with about 2-3 overs to spare. That was the only match that was close. After getting a side all out for 170 or 180, it is not that difficult a task for the batsmen to get the runs. I thought we played exceptionally well throughout the series. We played like champions and we deserved to be the champions. - Shobha Warrier

	1983 was the best Indian team ever. There were lots of all-rounders in the team and the balance of the team was perfect. [Sunil] Gavaskar accepted the award and said that he thought the 1983 team deserved it. Sachin Tendulkar said that he took to the game seriously after watching Kapil Dev lift the Prudential Trophy. So we set the platform for cricket to really blossom in this country. Television coverage came in big only after that win. Personally, I don’t believe in comparing teams; and what is Wisden? I don’t think Wisden is the Bible of cricket. What they say is their outlook, not my opinion. They did not recognise our efforts and only called the top-most cricketers. I also top-scored in the semi-finals of the 1983 World Cup, but I was not invited to the awards function. Was the contribution of Brijesh Patel, Anshuman Gaekwad or Madan Lal any less than other cricketers? Any cricketer who has played for the country is proud enough to call himself the cricketer of the century. - As told to Faisal Shariff

	Everyone thought the Indian team that won the 1983 World Cup would be picked as the team of the century, but the award went to the team of 1985. Do you agree with the selection? Where is the question of having a difference of opinion on this count? It does not matter what the people’s perception is. If someone were to ask me which was the best Indian team I would say it was the 1985 team. I played in that team. The World Cup win should be treated as a starting point, but our win in Australia should be ranked higher than that. What was the difference between the 1983 and 1985 teams? By 1985, we had started believing we could do it. Each player knew what he had to do, we had all become so mature. People forget that this team won the World Series in Australia. The World Cup win was no doubt a big milestone for our cricket, but the World Series win was even bigger. There is no way one could compare the two performances. You are asking me to do something that is not possible. The 1985 team under Gavas-kar had every single component that should be there in a winning team. But Gavaskar says the 1983 team was the best. That is the Little Master’s opinion. I am entitled to my opinion, likewise he is entitled to his opinion. I enjoyed the 1985 victory more because then I was not the captain. - Onkar Singh

	I think the 1983 side should have won the Wisden award. Winning the World Cup in 1983 was the best thing that could have happened to Indian cricket. It was easily one of the best teams I have ever played in. We had an all-round side. It was the best fielding side I have ever played in. The batsmen and bowlers knew their limitations and performed accordingly. I played in the 1985 team as well. We had a very strong bowling attack, with Kapil [Dev], myself, [Roger] Binny leading the seam attack. The exciting leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and left-arm spinner Ravi Shastri lent variety to the attack. In fact, there was hardly anything missing in the 1985 team with the advent of the talented Mohammad Azharuddin and the live wire wicket-keeping of Sadanand Viswanath. It was the best tour I have been on. The team had the right mixture of youth and experienced players. Despite all this, I still believe that the 1983 team should have won the award.

	There is no doubt that the 1983 World Cup-winning team was the best team, but let's not forget the exploits of the 1985 team. India travelled to Australia after losing a Test series at home, to England, 1-0. The press had written the team off and the skipper [Sunil Gavaskar] was under tremendous pressure. But it has always been the specialty of Indian teams to bounce back when written off. The World Series tournament, with the all the Test-playing nations participating, was a cakewalk for us. We beat Pakistan twice in the tournament, including in the finals. The 1983 team was great, but it must be remembered that it struggled to get through to the final. With the 1985 team, every match was near-perfect. Madan, Kapil and Binny knocked the top order off. Then Siva (Laxman Sivaramakrishnan) and Shastri cleaned the tail up. We bowled out the opposition for less than 200 runs, except New Zealand in the semi-finals, where they scored 206. The triumph was one of the finest ever and it does stand alongside the 1983 win. We haven't won the World Cup since 1983, and if you look at the World Series Championship, it was never held again. So we are still the champions!

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