On This Day

1987

The world’s top cricketing event, the eightnation World Cup, was declared open by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in New Delhi, amid unusually tight security for a sporting event. It was held in India and Pakistan, and first to be outside England. Gandhi, wearing a bullet-proof vest beneath his shirt, shook hands with all the players from the eight participating countries. For security reasons, he did not go down to the field to greet them but they filed up the stadium stands to his seat.