T20 World Champions India arrive in Delhi; to meet PM Modi
Hundreds of fans, holding placards congratulating their favourite players and waving the national flag, braved a steady drizzle to line up outside the Indira Gandhi International airport
The Indian cricket team that won the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 arrived in Delhi on Thursday morning (July 4), five days after claiming the coveted title in Barbados where it was stranded due to hurricane Beryl.
Hundreds of fans, holding placards congratulating their favourite players and waving the national flag, braved a steady drizzle to line up outside the Indira Gandhi International airport to welcome the victorious players, who returned home in a specially-arranged charter flight.
On its official X (formerly Twitter) page, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video with the caption "It's home". The video shows Indian players picking up the T20 World Cup trophy inside the flight.
The Rohit Sharma-led squad won India's second T20 world title, ending an 11-year wait for an ICC trophy, on Saturday (June 29).
The Air India special charter flight AIC24WC – Air India Champions 24 World Cup – took off from Bridgetown, Barbados around 4:50 am local time on Wednesday and arrived in Delhi at 6 am (IST) on Thursday after a 16-hour non-stop journey.
The Indian squad, its support staff, the players' families and some board officials are aboard the flight along with members of the travelling media contingent.
Theside won the crown, which is India's fourth overall World Cup, after pulling off a thrilling seven-run win over South Africa in the final on Saturday but was unable to head back home due to a shutdown forced by hurricane Beryl.
The team is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 9 am at his residence.
After this, the team will fly to Mumbai to take part in an open bus victory parade followed by a felicitation ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium.