Omkar Dattatray
Indian cricket eleven was given a grand ,historical and tumults welcome on its return from South Africa after a historical win of T20 world cup after 13 long years wait in home turf of Mumbai .A rousing and red carpet welcome was accorded to Indian team for its spectacular and epoch making performance in the world cup .Hundreds and thousands of cricket fans and other people had assembled in Mumbai and they gave a grand welcome to team India befitting its performance. The red carpet welcome was accorded to cricket eleven on 4th of July Thursday in Mumbai and it will be remembered in the cricket history of the country .The team India has increased the status ,stature and standing of India in international area .The Indian men in blue rightly deserved the grand welcome and there is no exaggeration in giving the welcome in honor of the team India in its return from abroad after having a emphatic win in the T20 world cup .The welcome is the testimony to the fact that the people of India regard the cricket team in high regard and they have great love for cricket and the cricket team. The rousing welcome accorded to team India will be itched and written in golden letters in the cricket history of the country .In fact it is the dedication ,determination ,perseverance ,hard toil ,team spirit and above all cooperation ,coordination and discipline which helped India team to win the world trophy this time .In what was a magical evening at the Marine Drive and the Wankhede Stadium ,team India received a rousing welcome from the fans and general public .The team completed the victory parade amongst a sea of fans ,celebrating their T20 World Cup win .They were given Rs 124 crore4 by the BCCI in presentation ceremony at the stadium Coach Rahul Dravid ,capitan Rohit Sharma ,player of the Final Virat Kohali and player of the Tournament Rohit Sharma expressed what it meant for them to win the world cup .The ceremony concluded with the team doing a victory lap around the Wankhede Stadium. Team India won a world cup after 13 years .The long wait of the fans is finally over and they have gathered in large numbers in Mumbai to welcome their heroes .The fans have assembled at the airport ,Marine Drive and the Wankhede Stadium and gave the team a rousing and red carpet welcome after their return from South Africa with the world cup trophy. The players have arrived at the airport and they moved to Nariman Point ,where they started a victory parade in an open double Decker bus till the Wankhede Stadium. Team India ,Rohit Sharma &Co return to India after Hurricane Beryl delays their Barbados departure receive grand welcome after T20 World Cup win .Cricket fans braved the weather to welcome their heroes .Led by Rohit Sharma ,the team’s victory over South Africa ended an 11 -year ICC trophy drought .The team met PM Narendra Modi who exuded confidence that team India will always raise the head of India very high and in future also it will bring laurels for the country and the prime minister congratulated the team India and encourage them to strive and aim higher and higher in future.The PM also gave the team India Vijay Mantra .Under the leadership of Rohit Sharma the Indian squad clinched the T20 world cup title ,securing their second victory in the tournaments history and ended 13 year drought for an ICC trophy .Their hard -fought victory against South Africa in the final match was celebrated across the nation .Despite the inclement weather ,hundreds of fans gathered outside the airport with placards ,national flags and eager cheers and welcomed their cricketing heroes. .Exuberant fans follow the cricket team despite monsoon showers and heavy security deployment before prime minister Narendra Modi rolled out the red carpet for a breakfast meet as the T20 world cup winning Indian cricketers returned home to a euphoric reception ,on Thursday .Hundreds of supporters ,holding placards congratulated their favorites and waving the national flags ,braved the inclement weather to wait outside the airport for the victorious side, which defeated South Africa by seven runs in the final in Bridgetown on Saturday last week. There was dancing ,there were multiple cakes and there were fans on streets showing just why cricket is the most passionately followed sport in the country .The weary players joined in the fun after arriving at the hotel from airport to complete the party atmosphere .”We have waited for this moment for the past 13 years .The team has made us proud by winning the world cup ,”a fan who claimed to have been waiting since 4.30 am in the morning said ,referring to India’s last world cup triumph which came back in 2011.The side was unable to head back home immediately after the title win due to a shutdown forced by hurricane Beryl in Barbados .They were cocooned in their hotel before the BCCI secretary Jay Shah made arrangements for a special charter flight .The Air India special charter flightbAIC24WC -Air India champions 24 world cup-which left Barbados around 4.50 am local time on Wednesday arrived in Delhi at 6am IST on Thursday after a 16 -hour stop journey .Heavy security was deployed to keep the crowd in check at Indira Gandhi International airport but that did little to dampen the spirits as fans cheered enthusiastically holding up posters of star batter VIrat Kohli ,skipper Rohit Sharma and outgoing head coach Rahul Dravid .Two buses were stationed outside the T3 Terminal to ferry the players to ITC Mauraya Sheraton ,where they were greeted by dhol and traditional Bhangra dancers .Most of them ,including skipper Rohit Sharma .all -rounder Hardik Pandya ,Suryakumer Yadav and Rishabh Pant ,shook a leg with the assembled dancers ,giving them a memory that would last a lifetime .Tired but excited ,they acknowledged the waiting fans by waving at them and flashing warm smiles .This is what sport does, unite people and give them so much to cheer about and spread joy .Thanking our team once again for giving so many of our countrymen so much joy and happiness. .One would not be able to grasp the ”sheer exhilaration and meaning ”behind this title win unless they were a part of it since being a champion is an experience like no other .He also said that it was a blessing to see Men in Blue get so much love and respect at home following their historic title win ,in which they went unbeaten for eight matches .In brief the team India was accorded a grand red carpet welcome in Mumbai by the hundreds of fans and common people on their return from South Africa after winning the T20 world cup .Both winning of the world cup and the grand welcome to men in Blue are historical .Let Indian team scale new highest in the future and making India proud.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)
