The unprecedented euphoria surrounding Team India’s return to the country after the victory in the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2024 reached dizzying heights in Mumbai.
The victorious Indian team was scheduled to leave Barbados on Monday and arrive in the country on Tuesday. However, their departure was delayed due to Hurricane Beryl and they finally managed to leave the island nation on Wednesday evening via a special Air India flight organised by the BCCI. The flight landed in New Delhi on Thursday (July 4) morning.
A large number of fans were waiting for the Indian team outside the airport and the team hotel in the national capital. The Indian team met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in Delhi and gifted him a special jersey before leaving for Mumbai to attend the victory parade.
Even before the Indian team could reach Marine Drive for the victory parade, thousands of fans thronged the venue to catch a glimpse of the World Cup winners. However, the parade was delayed by over two hours as the team arrived late in Mumbai.
However, the delay did not affect the fans much, who were desperately waiting for their heroes. The parade finally began around 7:30 pm and the atmosphere became electric in no time. The fans went crazy as soon as they saw the Indian team on the open-top bus.
The players waved to the fans before Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli gave them a moment to savour. India’s batting superstars lifted the trophy together in front of ecstatic fans during the parade. Both Kohli and Rohit announced their retirement from T20Is after the World Cup victory.
Watch the brilliant moment between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli:
#LOOK | Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli lift the #WorldT2024Cup trophy and show it to the fans who have gathered to watch them perform their victory parade, in Mumbai. photo.twitter.com/jJsgeYhBnw
— AIN (@ANI) July 4, 2024
The victory parade will end at the Wankhede Stadium where the BCCI will provide assistance to the players. The remarkable win in the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup ended India’s long wait for the World Cup trophy and the jubilant celebrations by the fans and the team only show how desperate they were for this win, especially after the disappointment in last year’s ODI World Cup.
India suffered a painful defeat in the World Cup final last year before finally making amends in the T20 World Cup. It is India’s first World Cup in various formats since the 2011 World Cup victory.