The 1983 World Cup victory gave Kapil’s Devils less than a lakh of rupees each, but the 2011 triumph is proving much more lucrative for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s band of boys.

As the country (and Indians all over the world) partied hard into the early hours of Sunday and beyond celebrating India’s World Cup win after nearly three decades, the protaganists of the show soaked in the limelight: showered with residential plots, citations and cash awards running into crores of rupees.
The bonanza of riches for Team India will send out the message to all cricketers and sportsmen that hard work and success pays off.
The Indian captain was the biggest beneficiary, not only taking a big slice of `8.5 crores awarded to the Indian team for winning the 50-over big bash, but will also received over `6 crores in cash thanks to multiple state governments and the super-rich Board of Control for Cricket in India. And that amount does not include a residential plot in Bengaluru, a house in Mussoorie, a plot of land to set up a cricket academy in his native Jharkhand, a AC first class lifetime complimentary pass given by the railways and an out-of-turn promotion by Air India, all racked up by Captain Cool within just 24 hours of the historic win.
But all this has been well-earned with his cricket hinged on old-fashioned methods of sweat and hard work. His disciplined and sharp cricketing brain has taken him from the dusty bylanes of Ranchi to the hallowed turf of Wankhede in Mumbai on Saturday night, where he became
only the second Indian captain to lift the cricket World Cup.
Others have raked in the moolah too, just at a slightly less audacious scale. The cricket board will give `1 crore to each player, while coach Gary Kirsten and the support staff will get `50 lakhs each as a reward for their contribution, while the national selectors will be given `25 lakhs each.
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit announced that her government will give `2 crores to the Indian skipper and a further `1 crore each to Delhi cricketers Ashish Nehra, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Virender Sehwag.
Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said his government would give `1 crore each to Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan, who hail from the state.
Punjab’s deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh will be given a cash award of `1 crore each. Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said his government would honour the victorious cricketers with a residential plot each in Bengaluru.
Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhrayal Nishank promised a residential plot or a house in Mussoorie for Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, who has been a regular visitor there with his family. He also announced that a stadium will be built in the state to be named after skipper Dhoni.
The Gujarat government announced its highest sports honour, Eklavya Award, for Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel. The award carries prize money of `1 lakh and a citation.
Jharkhand said it would give a plot of land to Dhoni, who hails from Ranchi and is considered a legendary inspiration to the state’s youth, to set up a cricket academy there.
Air India, which employs four members of the victorious World Cup squad, announced out-of-turn promotions for all four, including the captain. Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina will now be elevated to the post of manager, while Yuvraj Singh will be promoted to senior manager.
The Uttar Pradesh government said it will felicitate Raina and Piyush Chawla with the Kanshi Ram International Sports Award.