1983 champions finalise 25-year celebrations, BCCI may not be invited

The itinerary for silver jubilee celebrations of India’s 1983 World Cup victory has been finalised. Kapil’s Devils...

The itinerary for silver jubilee celebrations of India’s 1983 World Cup victory has been finalised. Kapil’s Devils will be seen in action in four six-a-side matches across the country next month. Then, a dinner function will be held in Dubai on June 19 before the big bash on June 25 in the Long Room at Lord’s, where India claimed the World Cup on the same date 25 years ago.

The celebrations will include a music programme and a golf tournament, for which invitations have been sent to several of the the West Indies players who featured in that famous final. All this is not being organised by the Indian cricket board but by Sunil Gavaskar’s firm, Professional Management Group (PMG), and is being seen by many as a snub to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Sources say that the BCCI, which in recent times highlighted how it rewards former players, has been reluctant to take up the World Cup silver jubilee project because it would involve inviting players such as Kapil, Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal and Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who have aligned themselves with the rival Indian Cricket League (ICL).

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“I’m not hurt that the board is not organising the function,” Kapil told The Indian Express. “Why should I be hurt? Yeh meri shaadi ka jashn hai (this is like a celebration of my wedding), why should anyone else celebrate it for me? The important thing is not whether the board is backing off because of me or the ICL, but whether we will invite the board members or not. Right now, it doesn’t look like that we’ll interested in calling them. This is an event by Sunny (Gavaskar) and I’m helping him with it.”

The BCCI’s chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty confirmed that they would not be holding any function for the 1983 champions. “We’re not doing anything. Let them do whatever they’re doing. We haven’t got any invitation from them for any intimation,” Shetty said.

Sources say the board is stuck in a catch-22. “The BCCI has decided to stay away because of reasons known to everyone,” said one board official, who did not want to be named. “It has players that are part of ICL and therefore cannot be part of any official function organised by the board. We have no option but to go by the rules,” he added.

Invitation letters from Gavaskar’s company have been sent to every member of the squad. According to sources, written confirmation from only three-four players is pending. “But we’ll get it in a day or two,” a PMG official said.

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“We’ve all got a collective mail from Sunil Gavaskar, inviting us to be part of our World Cup celebrations and I have given my confirmation,” Madan Lal said. Kirti Azad also confirmed that he had got an invite, adding that he was looking forward to the “reunion”.