The triumphant Indian cricket team, arrived in Delhi in the early hours of Thursday after their T20 World Cup victory in Barbados on June 29. They received a rousing welcome. Fans thronged the airport to catch a glimpse of their cricketing heroes, who had made the nation proud by winning an ICC World Cup Trophy for the first time in 13 years. India’s last Cricket World Cup win was in 2011.
The entire nation had to wait four long days to welcome their heroes back after the T20 World Cup win.
After Team India’s thrilling 7-run win in the finals against South Africa, they were stranded in the Caribbean islands as Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Barbados on June 30, 2024.
Icing on the cake
The icing on the cake for the grand homecoming of the ‘Men in Blue’ on a special chartered flight on Thursday was their breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg.
After leaving the airport, the winning team and accompanying BCCI officials proceeded to ITC Maurya Sheraton Hotel and spent few hours before heading out to meet the Prime Minister Modi.
PM Modi interacted with each member of the Winning Team (cricketers, coaches and the BCCI top officials). The conversations with Team India were candid with lots of laughter and discussions around crucial turning points that went in India’s favour in the tournament.
Modi congratulated them for their exemplary performance at the world stage.
PM Modi, who was handed the T20 World Cup trophy by captain Rohit Sharma and Coach Rahul Dravid, posed for the photo with the winning team. BCCI President Roger Binny and Secretary Jay Shah were also present on the occasion.
“An excellent meeting with our Champions! Hosted the World Cup winning team at 7, LKM and had a memorable conversation on their experiences through the tournament”, said a ‘X’ post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the meeting.
THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT
Thursday’s meeting with PM Modi was in sharp contrast to the grim scenes witnessed on November 19 last year when India lost to Australia in the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad.
The loss then was painful as Team India had won ten matches on the trot before losing in the finals. Most cricketers’ then looked glum, heads hung low with disappointment writ all over their faces.
With a sombre mood in the dressing room, PM Modi himself visited them to lift the spirits of Indian cricketers and offered his advice.
However, this time the ‘Men in Blue’ were a cheerful lot, wore a special jersey for their meeting with PM Modi with letters of the word ‘CHAMPIONS’ written in bold. The special jersey also sported two stars over the BCCI’s emblem.
Rohit Sharma’s World Cup winning Team later left for Mumbai where a victory parade was organised in the evening for them from the Marine Drive to the Wankhede Stadium.
Thursday was a truly memorable day for millions of Indian cricket fans who came out in good numbers to cheer the ‘Men in Blue’ and Rohit’s team for ending the 13 year ICC World Cup Trophy drought!