WC heroes unveil diamond-studded bat

New Delhi:

The silver jubilee celebrations of the historic 1983 World Cup triumph kicked off on Sunday with the champion team members re-uniting and unveiling a diamond-studded cricket bat, signed by them.

The cricket bat, adorned with 25-carat diamonds, was unveiled to marks the historical feat's silver jubilee and will be auctioned at Lord's on June 25 with the proceeds going to equally to all the 15 members of the winning team.

Commemorating the World Cup victory at the 'Lords of 83' golf event, former skipper Sunil Gavaskar regarded it as the greatest cricketing memory of his life.

"It was the greatest cricketing memory of my life. Still the memory of Kapil hoisting the World Cup brings tears to my eyes," he said.

World Cup winning team captain Kapil Dev said the feeling of holding the trophy leaves him thrilled even today.

"Nothing has changed in all these 25 years, still the feeling thrills me. I would love to go take the journey once again," he said.

Kapil's Devils are now set for a private celebration arranged by Sunil Gavaskar at the prestigious Long Room of the Lord's where they created history 25 years ago.

"I want to once again live those moments when we go there," said Gavaskar.

Syed Kirmani, who was the team's wicketkeeper in World Cup, said, "I want to share the anecdotes of that match with my teammates."

Yashpal Sharma, who was the second highest run-scorer for India with 240 runs, also said he was looking forward to a walk down memory lane.

"I want to go back to those days, live those moments, sit where we sat on that day, see those pictures of legends that are adorned at Lord's. This is one moment which will never come back in your life again," he said.