1987 World Cup | That Wankhede evening: When Maninder had tears and Azhar didn't know what to do

In 1987, India's cricket team was on a roll, but lost the World Cup semi-final to England at Wankhede Stadium. Sachin Tendulkar, watching from the boundary line, made a pledge to himself that his story would be different. Kapil Dev lost his captaincy, and Maninder Singh, a world-class spinner, never fully recovered. Now, as India faces New Zealand, Maninder believes the Kiwis should worry about India.

A retiring legend was devastated, an enormously talented spinner never fully found his mojo back, an inspirational captain lost his hot seat while a 14-year-old watching everything from the Wankhede stadium's boundary line must have made a pledge to himself that one day his script will be different from theirs.

The teenager was of course Sachin Tendulkar and the devastated legend was Sunil Gavaskar, who had already announced his retirement and never played for India after India lost that World Cup semifinal against England in 1987.

Maninder Singh, a world class left-arm spinner, was never the same bowler after that game. Kapil Dev lost his captaincy, one last time.

Wankhede Stadium in 1987 was an amphitheatre that had absorbed the trials and tribulations of a very good Indian team. Graham Gooch, the English vice-captain swept his way to 115 and England didn't look back.

On that day, no one envisaged that anything could go wrong for the Indian team. But Murphy's Law hit the Indian team with full force on November 5, 1987.

On Wednesday, when Rohit Sharma leads the blue shirts against a quality New Zealand side, the home fans would pray that they do not return from Wankhede with heartache.

Cricket's biggest advantage and disadvantage is the recency bias. Only fans of a certain vintage would remember that no-so-talked about World Cup semi-final, where India started as overwhelming favourites.