April 2nd, 2011 will never be forgotten by any Indian cricket lover. This was the historic day when Team India lifted the ICC World Cup trophy which was glittering in gold and dazzling brightly.
But, a latest update is that the trophy which was hugged and kissed so dearly is in fact, a fake!!!
Well, the reason for that happens to be rather silly- the original trophy was seized by the Mumbai customs as it was not exempted from import duty and was taken as soon as it arrived from Colombo on March 29th after the semifinals between Sri Lanka- New Zealand.
According to a mail received from a noted national media house, it is heard that team India had lifted the replica and not the original of the World Cup trophy which is worth $ 130000.
Sources say the original will now be heading to the ICC World Headquarters at Dubai without the men in blue even touching it after all the fight and struggle they did to achieve it. While the blame game has begun between the ICC and BCCI, few officials are doing the cover up acts, as per the media sources.
While some say that an original is never presented to the team, the photographs of captains Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting receiving the original trophy during the 1999, 2003 and 2007 world cup has disproved it.
Also, the base of the trophy usually has the names of the winning team right from 1975 but it is heard that the one given to captain M S Dhoni at Wankhede Stadium had a blank black base. Meanwhile, a customs official revealed that the ICC has been insisting about a replica arriving from Colombo.
The national media source also revealed that the ICC officials claimed about the trophy having no commercial value and it was used for promotions only. However, a valuation was done and it turned out that the trophy was worth Rs 60 lakhs made of pure silver and gold. So, the question rises if it is a replica, does it have to be the same price as the original? It is also heard that the ICC letter mentioned that it was the trophy and no mention of a replica has been made.
As per a notification from department of revenue regarding the world cup tournament, a total of five broad categories were meant to be allowed but interestingly, there was no mention of the World Cup Trophy in that. Some are also asking why the ICC and BCCI which are extremely rich are unwilling to pay the duty and release the original trophy. Well, only time will tell whether this information from the national media source is true or not.
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