“There were seas of maroon and blue walking up the Edrich stand, I vividly remember. The whole day was scorching hot and it’s the most emotionally zapping cricket match Indians have witnessed. I remember meeting our man of the match outside the ground, (Mohinder) Amarnath paaji. As a 10-year-old, I couldn’t understand the significance of that day as much, but it remains my most cherished memory till date,” recalled Ajeet Sethi, who spent all evening reminiscing about the 1983 World Cup final by his hotel bar, which is barely two minutes away from the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala where India defeated New Zealand on Sunday.

Sethi, now 50, went on: “Looking back at that time with the Indian team, hindsight is a wonderful thing.” He paused for a significant amount of time when asked how he views the present Indian side, when he was joined by childhood friend Balbir Singh. “Madam, those were the golden days. It changed everything in our lives. In those days, there was no local commentary as there is now. To know whether India had won or lost was in itself a struggle. But the joy of India’s victory over the West Indies compensated for all other inconveniences we faced as fans,” said Singh, with a commendable straight face, as he put an ursine arm round Sethi’s shoulders.