1983 World Cup hero, Mohinder Amarnath said he drew inspiration from a dialogue of Bollywood blockbuster ‘Sholay’.

An inspiration was what he needed to steady his nerves against two-time champions West Indies in the finals.

"I remembered the famous dialogue of Sholay, 'jo dar gaya so mar gaya'. I told myself that it is my day and I have nothing to loose," said Amarnath, who went on to put on Man of the Match performances in the semi final and final of the World Cup.

Twenty five years down the historic triumph, Amarnath described the Indian dressing room's ambience before the big match as "calm" and said his underdog team was in high spirits as it had nothing to lose.

"We were very relaxed on the final day. Not a single player panicked. We were playing together for quiet some time hence there was mutual understanding and confidence of winning," the allrounder said.

In the final at the Lord's, Amarnath held his own against the fierce trio of tearaways Joel Garner, Michel Holding and Andy Roberts to score 26 runs. He then walked back to the park to pick up three important wickets for just 12 runs in seven overs as the famed Caribbean batting line up folded up for 140, chasing a 183-run target.

Amarnath, who played 69 Tests and 85 one-day Internationals for India, said the triumph was "something out of the world for the Indians" and seemed "like a dream".

"We used to watch World Cup finals sitting beyond the boundary line. It was a dream to play a final and hold the trophy. We literally lived that dream on June 25, 1983," the veteran cricketer said.

"It has been 25 years since then, but I can still feel the thrill as if we have won the Cup yesterday only. It was an unexpected win and we are proud of it," he added.

The gutsy all rounder said India wanted to win desperstely despite the odds heavily stacked against them. The team, he said had realised were on the verge of history.

"We were all determined to win. You have to be numero uno as nobody remembers the runner-ups," he said.

He rated the Man of the Match award in that game as the "biggest achievement of his life".