Fans at the Wankhdede Stadium exchanged names over Hardik Pandya on Thursday. The Indian team, which is back in the country after winning the T20 World Cup against Barbados, will be congratulated for their historic achievement on Thursday evening.
The Indian team landed in New Delhi on Thursday morning from Barbados. After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian team will proceed to the Wankhde Stadium by taking a bus parade from the famous Air India building to Nariman Point.
In the process, fans will recreate memories of India’s famous victory in the 2007 T20 World Cup. Rohit Sharma won his first ICC title as captain, which was the T20 World Cup. Rahul Dravid, on his last day as India’s head coach, won his first World Cup for India after failing to win any as captain.
The journey to World Cup victory, which began with India’s first match against Ireland in the T20 World Cup, will end with the bus parade in Mumbai. Before the players reach the Wankhde Stadium, fans have already gathered in large numbers and are waiting to greet their heroes.
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Meanwhile, the fans present at the Wankhede Stadium were chanting Hardik Pandya’s name. Pandya was one of the heroes of the final as he defended 16 off his final over to win the match for India. He also took the key wicket of David Miller to turn the match in India’s favour.
Wankhede crowd chants Hardik Pandya’s name
2 months after being booed en masse by fans, HARDIK HARDIK chants take over Wankhede 🔥🔥🔥
THE GREATEST REDEMPTION IN CRICKET HISTORY!!!!World Cup #T20 image.twitter.com/BMDQgWTyfT
—Vinesh Prabhu (@vlp1994) July 4, 2024
Fans who just two months ago booed Pandya for his lackluster leadership and overall performance for the Mumbai Indians were seen chanting his name and singing praises for him. Thus, in many ways, life became complete for Pandya after India’s T20 World Cup victory.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja have already announced their retirement from T20Is after India’s T20 World Cup win. They will continue to play Test matches and ODIs. Kohli scored a match-winning 76 in his last T20I innings for India, helping them post 176 in the final.
The bowlers led by Jasprit Bumrah did a brilliant job as they restricted South Africa to 169 and won the match by seven runs. It took an outstanding catch by Suryakumar Yadav at the long-on boundary to turn the match in India’s favour. All the players felt a sense of relief and satisfaction after Hardik bowled that last ball in the final over.
Hardik Pandya recalls the tough days after winning the World Cup
Emotions ran high and all the Indian players and support staff were in tears after this memorable win. India ended their ICC trophy drought after 11 years. This is their first major ICC title since the 2011 ODI World Cup victory.
“It means a lot. Very emotional, we’ve worked so hard but something wasn’t working, but today was the day we delivered what the whole nation wanted. More special to me, how my last 6 months have been, I’ve been very blessed to not say a word, things have been very unfair, but I believed that if I kept working hard there would come a time when I would shine and do what I could do.”
“That sums it up. Winning was a dream. Getting an opportunity like this makes it even more special,” Hardik said immediately after India’s T20 World Cup victory, recalling the difficult stages of the last two months of his life.
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