NEW DELHI, India (AP) - India's cricket board and former skipper Kapil Dev put aside their differences in the Twenty20 dispute yesterday to commemorate the silver jubilee of the country's 1983 World Cup win.

Dev's team, rank outsiders in the 60-over competition, produced a series of stunning performances before upsetting two-time defending champion the West Indies in the low-scoring final, ending Clive Lloyd's bid for a hat-trick of World Cup titles.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) presented cheques of 2.5 million rupees (US$62,000; euro39,718) to each of the 14 members, who posed with the World Cup trophy.

"We were just putting in our effort, and did not realise the magnitude of what we had achieved," said Kapil Dev.
The World Cup title win boosted the popularity of the limited-overs format in India, which until then was focused on test cricket.

India and Pakistan then jointly hosted the 1987 World Cup, when a 50-over competition became the international norm.
The title-winning run captivated Indian sports lovers, now the biggest commercial market in the cricket world.

"These players inspired an entire generation of cricketers," BCCI president Sharad Pawar said, acknowledging the important role Dev and his teammates had on Indian cricket.
The biggest trophy since then was the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last year, which has spawned lucrative new tournaments for cricket's most condensed international form all over the world.

Dev and three other members of his World Cup winning squad - Sandip Patil, Madan Lal and Balwinder Sandhu - last year accepted contracts as managers and coaches with the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Dev, who heads the rebel ICL, and the other three had their pensions stopped by the national cricket board and were barred from participation in any BCCI activity.

All Indian players who featured in the ICL have been banned for life from representative teams selected by the BCCI, while several foreign players have also been penalised by their respective national boards.

Dev has launched a legal challenge, which continues.
The BCCI was originally reluctant to commemorate the 1983 win, but changed its stance as private functions highlighting that victory were attracting wide media exposure.

The 1983 Indian squad willtoday leave for London, where former opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar is organising a ceremony at Lord's on June 25 - the day when India won the 1983 final by 43 runs.

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