
25 June, marks a special day in Indian cricket history. 25 years back on June 25, 1983, it was the lucky day, when Indian team won the first and the only cricket World cup till now. Captained by 23-year-old Kapil Dev, the memento was won by India, beating two-time world champions West Indies in the finals by 43 runs.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organized the special ceremony for the ‘Kapil Devils’ to mark the 25 years of triumph on Sunday, June 22 in New Delhi. The Indian cricket fraternity has felicitated the silver jubilee year to celebrate one of the greatest victories in the cricket history. Members of Dev’s team were very delighted over the BCCI’s special felicitation ceremony.
All the former Indian Test captains, all Delhi-based Test cricketers, former and current women cricket captains, Delhi-based women international cricketers, including former and present office bearers of the BCCI were invited. BCCI president Sharad Pawar, welcomed the 1983 World Cup team members and congratulated them on completing silver jubilee year.
An emotional Dev said, “The entire team contributed to the victory. It brought the Indian cricket to the centre-stage of world cricket that we enjoy today. As a captain, how it happened, I really don’t know! But, when it happened, then only we could realize it. What we achieved 25 years ago was really unimaginable. In my opinion, the love and affection of countrymen, which we got, cannot be weighed in money.”
“Somewhere, I must say that the 1983 team believed in themselves. That time when somebody asked me, if we could be the world champions; I said no!” added the India’s all time most successful all-rounders.
Sunil Gavaskar, one of the senior members of 1983 squad said, “His dedication, discipline as a captain is there for everybody to learn. The way people follow Sachin Tendulkar today, we used to follow Dev at that time. He is the man who showed us the way. The time when he lifted the trophy was the greatest memory of my life. He is still the greatest cricketer India has ever produced.”
“The 1983 World Cup win was a start that led us to the Asia Cup, Rottman’s Cup, Benson and Hedges and World Championship triumphs. It was a tournament that captivated the imagination of the whole nation,” added the legendary opening batsman.
Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Mohammed Azharuddin and former board presidents Salve, Raj Singh Dungarpur, Inderjit Singh Bindra and Ranbir Singh Mahendra were also present in the function to honor the team.
The Board presented a silver memento and cheque of Rs. 25 lakh to each of the 14 member of the 1983 squad.
The contribution of the victory team of 1983 world champions is actually priceless as they have marked the history with golden words and landed Indian cricket to success doors.
Tags: , 1983 World Cup, BCCI, Cricket, Gavaskar, India, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, World Cup