Kapil Dev Was Not Invited For the Cricket World Cup Final
India lost the World Cup to Australia, an emotional match overshadowed by a fan incident, controversial absences, and echoes of past awkward trophy presentations.
Sadly India’s dream to lift the World Cup for the 3rd time was crushed as Australia won the final and lifted the World Cup for the 6th time. One of the other things that happened during India’s batting was that an Australian spectator wearing a T-shirt with a free Palestine slogan and a mask with a Palestinian flag colour who was supporting Palestine breached security and hugged Virat Kohli when he was batting. However, he was quickly removed by the security and detained by the police. Captain Rohit Sharma and the entire team, even though they tried to control their tears, were seen getting emotional on the field. Legendary cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar was seen walking up to the Indian team, who were waiting to get their runners-up medal, and consoling the players, including captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. After the match a lot of people, though sad about the loss, commented on social media supporting the Indian team and said that even though they had lost the World Cup, they were still loved for the amazing matches they played throughout the World Cup. Many said we will come back stronger in 2027. Rahul Dravid also said there is a lot of sadness in the dressing room, "There is hurt and sadness, but the sun will come up tomorrow. This is what sport teaches you. You experience great highs and crushing lows and must be prepared to accept both." There were reports that there will be a Champions Walk with all the World Cup-winning Champions from 1975 till 2019. However, India's first World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev said that he was not invited. “I wasn’t invited. They didn’t call me so I did not go. As simple as that. I wanted the whole ’83 team to be there with me but I guess due to the fact that it’s such a big event and people are so busy handling responsibilities, sometimes they forget.” Similarly 2011 Indian team’s winning Captain MS Dhoni too was not present at the venue. Hence, it seems that the entire Champions Walk did not happen. However, many commented that BCCI could invite PM Modi, film stars, YouTubers, social media influencers, and others but not the 2 most important people in Indian cricket. During the presentation ceremony, Cummins was presented the trophy by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. The pair, however, then left the stage leaving Cummins alone and there was an awkward moment for the next 20 - 30 seconds. With this, an old video of then-Australian captain Ricky Ponting forcing Indian politician Sharad Pawar to leave the stage while celebrating the 2006 Champions Trophy win has gone viral on social media.
