The 1983 World Cup winning team received players received INR 25,000 each from BCCI.a
After the BCCI handed over a cheque of INR 125 crores to the T20 World Cup 2024 winning Indian team in Mumbai, a former India cricketer had urged the BCCI to give a cash prize to the Kapil Dev-led 1983 World Cup winning team as well.
India became world champions in 1983 defeating two-time winners West Indies in the final at the Lord’s while defending just 183 runs. India was the ultimate underdog story in cricket, as no one gave them any chance of qualifying for the semis, let alone winning the trophy.
The 1983 World Cup win by the Indian team proved to be a turning point and marked their emergence as a force to be reckoned with in international cricket. Cricket became big in India and attracted big money, making India a hub of cricketing activities.
Meanwhile, the unnamed 1983 World Cup-winning cricketer revealed that the then champion team was not given any financial rewards at the time, as the BCCI claimed they "don't have money." He said that now the board is making billions and should reward the first-world champions accordingly.
"Rs 125 crore is huge. Happy for Team India. Well, we were not given cash rewards at that time (after the 1983 World Cup victory), because the board (BCCI) had said 'We don't have money'. Now they can give, what is stopping them? Only a few players (of that team) are getting work, rest are struggling. BCCI should look into it," a member of the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian team told IANS on condition of anonymity.
As a reward for their remarkable achievement, the BCCI presented each player with a modest cash prize of Rs 25,000.
This prize money was arranged when legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar performed at a musical concert in Delhi to raise funds for the World Cup-winning squad at the request of Raj Singh Dungarpur.
This enabled each player of the 1983 World Cup winning team to get INR 1 lakh each.