How Ratan Tata played crucial role in India’s 1983 World Cup triumph: Here’s all you need to know
New Delhi: The entire cricket fraternity has paid its tributes to the departed Ratan Tata. A visionary leader and philanthropist, he was recognized with a legacy beyond the business world: inspiration to all in the sports world. Players, officials, and the cricketing community at large have gone to great lengths to pay respect to his integrity and commitment to social causes. His values and boundless commitment continue to inspire not just the cricketing world but society in general.
Under Ratan Tata, this leadership power house reached new heights in company history, becoming diversified across FMCG sectors, automobile, and much more. However, among many of the experiences attributed to this corporate giant is an often-overlooked triumph: the influence that Ratan Tata had over Team India’s historic winning of the 1983 World Cup.
This victory brought cricket to the forefront in India, and Tata’s commitment to nurturing talent played a pivotal role. Three key players—Mohinder Amarnath (Air India), Sandeep Patil (Tata Oil Mills), and Ravi Shastri (Tata Steel)—who were part of the victorious 1983 team, began their journeys with domestic teams backed by Tata. During that period, Ratan Tata held a managerial position within the Tata Group, highlighting his crucial role in the development of Indian cricket.
The influence of the Tata Group extended well beyond the 1983 World Cup victory, as numerous Indian cricket players received crucial support from various Tata-backed organizations. Legends like Farokh Engineer (Tata Motors), Mohinder Amarnath (Air India), Javagal Srinath (Indian Airlines), Sanjay Manjrekar (Air India), Kiran More (TSC), Rusi Surti (IHCL), Sandeep Patil (Tata Oil Mills), and VVS Laxman (Indian Airlines) benefited from this backing. More contemporary players, such as Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, Mohammed Kaif, Nikhil Chopra, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Dinesh Mongia (all associated with Air India), Ajit Agarkar (Tata Steel), Rohan Gavaskar, Ramesh Powar, and more recently, Shardul Thakur (Tata Power), Jayant Yadav (Air India), and Jhulan Goswami (Air India) also received support from Tata’s network, reflecting the group’s enduring commitment to nurturing Indian cricket talent.