After being greeted by jubilant fans in New Delhi on Thursday, India’s T20 World Cup winners were shown a hero’s welcome. Captain Rohit Sharma then took them to a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After the team arrived in Delhi from the Caribbean, wild mobs yelled “India, India” as they touched down, having been delayed for many days due to Hurricane Beryl.
Before going to see Modi at his house, the team waved to the spectators and danced to live music and drums at their hotel.
While broadcasters displayed pictures of Rohit and his team meeting the premier, they were sporting Indian jerseys with the word “Champions” printed on them.
Before having a conversation with the players, Modi sat down for a picture with the team.
The team then departed for Mumbai in preparation for a victory parade that will culminate later in the day at Wankhede Stadium and feature an open-topped bus through the financial center of India.
Whistles and raucous applause greeted the players earlier in the morning as they emerged from the arrivals area wearing gold medals, a few of them giving their supporters a thumbs-up.
“Watching my team with the World Cup is surreal,” tearful supporter Rohit Khanna told AFP.
“I saw the 2011 triumph, but this is a moment I will never forget.”
Long before daybreak, hordes flocked to the airport in New Delhi, ignoring the monsoon rain, hoping to catch a sight of their heroes, who had defeated South Africa in an exciting Barbados final on Saturday.
The crowd exploded when captain Rohit arrived with the dazzling trophy, which he lifted into the air, followed by vice captain Hardik Pandya, who was dressed in a Caribbean hat.
As he waved to hundreds of fans, star batsman Virat Kohli—whose hometown is Delhi—got some of the biggest applause.
A fan wearing no shirt and sporting a tattoo of Kohli on his breast remarked, “It’s a dream for me to witness India return home from a World Cup.”
After winning the Champions Trophy in 2013, India’s 11-year global cricket trophy drought came to an end with their victory last weekend.
When Mahendra Singh Dhoni captained them in the 2011 50-over World Cup, they won their final World Cup match at home.
One supporter displayed a poster of Rahul Dravid, the coach. It said, “Thank you, Mr. Dependable”.
During the post-match celebrations, the players threw Dravid, 51, into the air, marking his farewell game in command.
Following the conclusion, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit, and captain Virat Kohli declared their retirement from Twenty20 international cricket.
According to the website Flightradar24, which tracks aircraft, enthusiastic supporters have been following the team’s return flight from the Caribbean, making the special Air India charter the “most tracked flight for much of the last 15 hours”.
