After much deliberation over whether or not to celebrate the 25th anniversary of India’s 1983 World Cup victory — thanks to the presence of ICL rebels among that squad — the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally decided it ought to raise a toast to the champions. Incidentally, 25 years ago, another group of men had grudgingly picked up the tab for Kapil Dev’s champions. These days, IPL franchise owners throw win-or-lose chin-up parties for their players, but back on June 25, 1983 at Lord’s, the champagne that flowed in the post-match dressing room bash had been “sponsored” by the men who had just been beaten: some of it nicked away from the West Indian dressing room, the rest donated by the West Indian captain. Kirti Azad talks about the events that unfolded right after that historic win, where the odds were stacked 66-1 against them. “Actually, only Kapil paaji had kept a bottle of champagne in his kitbag. just in case. “But before the game started, a few of us had noticed the huge magnums of champagne in the West Indies dressing room. They looked quite tempting then but we had given up any thoughts of a party once we had been bowled out for 183,” he says. “Then, after we won, the entire Indian team went inside the West Indies dressing room to shake hands. the regular hard-luck-mate conversation. We also managed to nick a few champagne bottles, which were popped as soon as we entered our dressing room. “Just then, Clive Lloyd (West Indies captain) walked in carrying the rest of the bottles, saying, ‘why have you guys left these behind? It’s all yours, congratulations’. We certainly didn’t fall short of champagne after that,” he says. Kapil Dev too has memories of the incident, though he insists he wasn’t the only one carrying a just-in-case bottle of bubbly in his kitbag. “There were four or five of us who had bottles in our kitbag. After the win all of us went to the West Indian dressing room to exchange words before celebrating. Clive Lloyd was a true gentleman and congratulated us, though he would have wanted to complete a hat-trick World Cup wins.” It’s hardly a surprise then that Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev have invited the entire West Indies team to be part of their celebrations on June 25 at Lord’s. The champagne is set to flow once again, but this time, Kapil & Co will pick up the tab.(With Shalini Gupta in Chandigarh)
