Kirti Azad has strongly dismissed a viral social media post in relation to the 1983 World Cup team as fake. The post has a photo which appears to be a hotel bill in which, if one pores over, one sees a lot of alcohol purchased on the night of India’s first-ever World Cup triumph, on the night of June 25th, 1983 in England.
Azad, who was part of the squad and played three games in the tournament, dismissed the post as fake. It’s a pic of a Grosvenor Hotel bill that night, and it displays some really interesting items. There are whiskey, beer, cigarettes and ashtrays part of the purchased items. The table is booked in the name of the ‘Indian cricket team’, and the bill is signed by none other than the Indian captain, the great Kapil Dev.
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As far Azad is concerned, it’s a fake bill since the team never went there that night. The team celebrated all night, all right, but at another place. Westmoreland Hotel, to be precise.
“This is fake. It is all over social media. We stayed at Westmoreland Hotel, next to Lords cricket Ground, London. After the victory on 25 June 1983 celebrations took place all night till morning of 26th June. We never went to this hotel. The signature of Kapil Dev is also forged,” Azad wrote on X.
There is no reason to question Azad, but one couldn’t help but wonder what if some members of the winning team decided to party elsewhere, and Azad wasn’t part of that party. Just food for thought.
The social media post has drawn all kinds of reactions from fans. Some are being critical of the alcohol consumption, and the fact that cigarettes were also bought. Some are praising the bunch for being such wonderful party boys.
Much ado about nothing!
But how does it all matter when it is a fake picture, as confirmed by Azad.
Anyway, one good thing this post has done that it has brought back the wonderful memories of that extraordinary triumph of the Indian team. Against all odds at Lord’s, the Indian team, under Kapil, stunned overwhelming favourites, the West Indies, who had won the inaugural World Cup in 1975 and then the next one in 1979 too.
If not for the Indian team, they would have become the first team to win three World Cups in a row. Be that as it may, more than a couple of decades later, Australia finally did it.
