PUNE (India) Sahara Adventure Sports Group (a subsidiary of the Sahara India Parivar) may have spent big moolah and become the highest bidder in the IPL history (for $370 million) to acquire the Pune franchise, but, the Sahara Parivar has reneged on its promise made to the 'men in blue after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. The losing finalists of the 2003 World Cup team were promised a seven-room deluxe suite apartment at Amby Valley city in Lonavla, near Pune in Maharashtra state in 2003 after the Saurav Ganguly-led team reached the finals of the World Cup. The announcement was made in the presence of the players and their families by the head of the Sahara Parivar, Subrato Roy, at a function held near a pond in the breath-taking surroundings of Amby Valley. Apparently, no member of the team is believed to have accepted the keys of the apartment, it is learnt here. Former captain Saurav Gangulys brother, Snehashish Ganguly said, I can confirm that no such apartment is gifted to my brother. Indian team manager on 2003 World Cup in South Africa, Jyoti Bajpai, when contacted, also confirmed, I recollect having been promised about the apartment but it has not been fulfilled. Initially it (apartments) was promised for a win in the final but India could not win the final (against Australia) and the (Sahara) Parivar then promised the apartments to be the World Cup runner-up. Felicitation of the players, on behalf of the Sahara Parivar, came from none other than actress and beauty queen Diya Mirza who put vermilion tilak on the forehead of the cricketers. All eyes were set on the legendary superstar Amitabh Bachan who, along with old friend and Samajwadi party leader Amar Singh, handed over the ownership certificates of the dream seven-room apartments in Amby Valley to all the members of the Indian cricket team. The certificates designed like posters in horizontal format read: In appreciation of their brilliant performance in the ICC World Cup 2003 in South Africa, Sahara India Parivar takes immense pride in honouring (the player) with the gift of a seven-star deluxe suite apartment in the World Cup enclave at Amby Valley. The then coach of the Indian team, John Wright, could not attend the function as he had to go back to New Zealand to attend to his ailing father. The keys of the dream homes in World Cup enclave were promised to be handed over to the cricketers. The team members and their families were shown the models of the suite and it was also said that Amby Valley is spread over 5000 acres and would emerge as the worlds best living centre. The dream homes measure 1600 square feet carpet area and have a market value of above Rs 30 million each. A special World Cup enclave has been formed here and any player of that (World Cup) team can come and (only) stay here, a marketing executive (named Amit) confirmed from Amby Valley. Head of communications at Sahara, Abhijit Sarkar, now in Mumbai from Lucknow for some official work, said when approached for his comments, contracts are lying with the players. Why dont you speak to the players? When pressed to be specific about the contracts, he refused to divulge any information. The terms and conditions (mentioned in the contract) were not viable and no member of the team has accepted the offer, a family member of one of the team members (of the 2003 WC) said on condition of anonymity. The ownership rights were not to be conferred on the players and we would had to pay a very high maintenance charges and other fees had we accepted the offer, he said. Indian squad for the 2003 World Cup was: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Javagal Srinath. The other members of the team on tour were: Parthiv Patel, Sanjay Bangar, Anil Kumble and Ajit Agarkar).