India’s T20 World Cup champions received a hero’s welcome with massive crowds, a victory parade, and a celebration at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. In November last year, when Australia’s ODI world champions returned home, only a few media people and officials welcomed them. But India’s T20 world champions received a much bigger welcome. When Team India landed at 6 am at Delhi airport, they were greeted by a huge crowd of supporters with signs. When the victory parade started in Mumbai at 7:35 pm, thousands of people had gathered to see their heroes and the World Cup trophy.
During the day, the Indian players, support staff, BCCI president Roger Binny, and secretary Jay Shah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The day ended with a nearly hour-long parade through Marine Drive, ending at Wankhede Stadium, where captain Rohit Sharma was overwhelmed.
“This trophy means so much to us, but it is for the entire nation,” Rohit said in front of a packed Wankhede Stadium. “We were desperate to win the trophy, but I think the people were even more desperate.”
Despite the rain and long wait, the excitement was undeniable.
“Mumbai’s king, Rohit Sharma!” shouted some teenagers around 3 pm, even though Rohit and his team were still flying to Mumbai from Delhi. When Rohit and his team finally arrived in an open-air bus to start the victory parade—about 2.5 hours later than planned—the crowd went wild. Virat Kohli, amid chants of “Kohli, Kohli,” started the celebration by holding up the World Cup trophy and kissing it. Hardik Pandya, who was booed by fans during the Indian Premier League a few months ago, enthusiastically engaged with the crowd. Jasprit Bumrah and the other bowlers also took turns interacting with the fans.
Rohit and coach Rahul Dravid shared a hug on the bus. Rohit later waved to the crowd from the back of the bus, while Dravid took pictures of the team’s celebrations.
“I am going to miss this love,” Dravid said at Wankhede Stadium. “What we have seen today is absolutely incredible. Ever since we landed in India, it has been incredible. I have been told that similar scenes happened all over India.”
Dravid, who never experienced this as a World Cup winner, witnessed India’s cricket team being celebrated like this for the first time in over a decade. Fans from all over Mumbai gathered to see the champions, climbing trees or checking into nearby hotels to take pictures. College student Rahul Shah, who skipped classes to attend, said he got goosebumps remembering when MS Dhoni and his team were similarly paraded through the city in 2007.
This time, after a long celebration that started in Barbados and continued in Mumbai with a quick stop in Delhi, Rahul saw it all in person.
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