On the day India defeat to Australia at the World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad, Kapil Dev, the captain of the legendary 1983 World Cup-winning side, expressed that he was not invited to the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
“I wasn’t invited there. They didn’t call me, so I did not go. As simple as that. I wanted the whole ‘83 team to be there with me, but I guess due to the fact that it’s such a big event and people are so busy handling responsibilities, sometimes they forget,” Dev stated when asked why he wasn’t present at the final.
According to reports, the BCCI had plans to honor all former World Cup-winning captains during the mid-innings break, which makes Dev’s absence from the event notable.
On June 25, 1983, India, under the captaincy of Dev, lifted the World Cup, then called the Prudential Cup, for the first time by defeating a star-studded West Indian unit at Lord’s. India won the toss and elected to bat, posting a score of 183. The West Indies fell short in the chase, and India secured victory by 43 runs.
India’s triumph in the 1983 World Cup was a significant upset, marking the first time that the country had won the World Cup and putting Indian cricket on the global map. Meanwhile the invited World Cup winning captains were honored during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Dhammika Ratnaweera reporting from India
