T20 World Cup winners India returned home to a hero’s welcome on Thursday, greeted by enthusiastic fans in New Delhi before skipper Rohit Sharma led them to a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Wild crowds chanted “India, India” after the team landed at Delhi airport from the Caribbean, having been delayed for days by Cyclone Beryl.
The group waved to the crowds and danced to drums and live music at their hotel before heading off to meet Modi at his residence.
Rohit and his team wore Indian jerseys emblazoned with ‘Champions’ as broadcasters showed images of them meeting the prime minister.
Modi posed for a photo with the team before sitting down for a chat with the players.
The team then departed for Mumbai for an open-top bus victory parade through the heart of India’s financial capital later in the day, ending at the Wankhede Stadium.
Earlier in the morning, whistles and wild cheers greeted the players as they left the arrivals area with gold medals around their necks, some cheering on from their fans.
“This is surreal, watching my team with the World Cup,” emotional fan Rohit Khanna told AFP.
“I saw the triumph of 2011, but this is a moment I will never forget.”
Despite the monsoon rain, crowds gathered outside the New Delhi airport well before dawn, waiting to catch a glimpse of their idols, who had defeated South Africa on Saturday in a thrilling final in Barbados.
It was vice-captain Hardik Pandya who appeared first, wearing a Caribbean hat, and the crowd erupted when captain Rohit came out carrying the glittering trophy, which he raised in the air.
Star batsman Virat Kohli, who hails from Delhi, received some of the loudest cheers as he waved to hundreds of fans.
“It’s a dream for me to see India come home from a World Cup,” said a shirtless fan with a Kohli tattoo on his chest.
Last weekend’s victory ended an 11-year world cricket trophy drought for India after winning the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Their last World Cup win was at home in the 2011 50-over edition under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
A fan was holding a poster of coach Rahul Dravid. “Thank you, Mr. Dependable,” it read.
The final was the last match for Dravid, 51, who was bounced in the air by the team during the post-match celebrations.
Rohit, Kohli and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja all announced their retirement from international T20 cricket after the final.
Plane-tracking website Flightradar24 said Air India’s special charter was “the most-watched flight for much of the last 15 hours” as excited fans watched the team’s journey back across the Caribbean.
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