Our Bureau
New Delhi
A former India player has dismissed a viral restaurant bill that claimed the 1983 World Cup winners celebrated with alcohol and cigarettes, saying the document and captain Kapil Dev’s signature are forged. Kirti Azad, who was part of the 1983 squad, wrote on X that the image circulating on social media is fake and that the team did not visit the hotel named on the bill. Azad said the Indian team stayed at the Westmoreland Hotel, next to Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, and that celebrations continued through the night of June 25 into the morning of June 26, 1983.
Azad explicitly rejected the claim that the squad held a dinner at the Grosvenor Hotel, pointing out that they never went there and that Kapil Dev’s signature on the receipt had been forged. The viral image showed a high-value bill and suggested the players had purchased beer, champagne and cigarettes; those details were widely shared online before Azad’s response.
The controversy revived interest in how the team marked its historic victory over the West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final, a win that changed Indian cricket’s fortunes and has been recalled often in anniversary coverage. Eyewitness accounts and retired players have for years described celebrations near Lord’s and at the hotel where the team was based, rather than at the restaurant named in the viral receipt.
Azad’s post aims to correct the record and cautions the public against believing images shared without verification, especially when they attribute actions to well-known figures like Kapil Dev. The episode underlines how quickly unverified material can spread on social platforms and the role of primary witnesses in setting the facts straight.
