CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS COME HOME

New Delhi/Mumbai, July 5 -- After Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team for breakfast here on Thursday during which, he said, there were "memorable" conversations on the side's experiences through the marquee event co-hosted by USA and the West Indies, the team went to Mumbai for victory parade.

The Rohit Sharma-led squad, that won the title after defeating South Africa by seven runs in the final last week, arrived in Delhi early morning after being stranded in Bridgetown, Barbados for five days due to a category 4 hurricane.

The victory parade of the T20 World Cup winning Indian team commenced after a two-hour delay as complete crowd chaos along the stretch of South Mumbai brought the traffic to a halt after Rohit and his men touched down little after 5 pm here on Thursday.

As per the itinerary shared by the officials here, the two-hour open bus parade started from the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Nariman Point till the Wankhede Stadium started little after 7:30 pm in the evening as the Maximum City's stretch along the Marine Drive was drowned in an 'Ocean of Humanity'.

The Wankhede Stadium here was thrown open to fans, who filled up the stands within minutes to celebrate the Indian cricket team's title triumph last Saturday.

After arriving in the city, Rohit's team and its support staff made their way to the southern tip of the city which houses the Wankhede Stadium.

But not before their aircraft - a Vistara flight - got the famous 'Water Salute' after arriving here at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport's Terminal 2.

The players walked out of the airport with a sea of fans and media waiting for them for last several hours.

Meanwhile, here at the iconic Wankhede Stadium which witnessed India's last ODI World Cup triumph in 2011, the stands got filled to the brim by passionate fans as thousand others waited outside the gates which were closed around 5:00 pm. As the gates closed amid intermittent rain, extreme humidity and chaos of several thousand people arriving in the vicinity, those fortunate ones who were able to find their places inside Wankhede remained fixated to their seats even if there was scarcity of food and water.

As the fans ran in all directions to take their places in the stands amid a heavy burst of rain, several pairs of footwear got left behind in the rush while debris of all kind was also thrown around along the way.

While the wait extended, rain kept pelting down with breaks but it could not force the fans off their seats inside the stadium.

The DJ kept entertaining with songs of all genres and at one instance it felt like Wankhede was hosting a rain-dance party with the stadium's speakers blurting out Vengaboys' party hit 'To Brazil' and country's unofficial sports anthem "Chak de India". Soon after, Wankhede came alive with its customary chants of 'Sachin. Sachin' followed by 'Mumbaicha Raja, Rohit Sharma!' and 'India. India'.

Earlier in the day after meeting the world champions, Modi posted on 'X' along with pictures of him with the team.

"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," wrote Modi.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Pioneer.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

2024-07-04T21:02:31Z dg43tfdfdgfd