The special flight carrying the T20 World Cup 2024-winning Indian cricket team from New Delhi to Mumbai received a special water salute after landing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Thursday. The special tribute was organised by the airport staff in honour of the team. The Rohit Sharma-led side defeated South Africa in the final to clinch the T20 World Cup 2024 title – their first T20I World Cup title after 17 years. The water salute is generally done as a show of respect to the airplane as well as its crew and passengers. The India cricketers landed in New Delhi early in the morning on Thursday and then met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In Mumbai, they are expected to take part in a victory parade which will end in a ceremony that will happen at the Wankhede Stadium.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team for breakfast 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.
Team India’s flight UK1845 got a water salute from Mumbai airport.The craze for #TeamIndia is beyond imagination! Can’t wait to see the scenes at Marine Drive #indiancricketteam #VictoryParade pic.twitter.com/Pdt8WwU6Cq
— Prathmesh Pophale 🇮🇳 (@Prath_Pophale11) July 4, 2024
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.
“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,” Modi posted on ‘X’ along with pictures of him with the team.
The PM was flanked by Rohit and outgoing head coach Rahul Dravid in the group picture.
Several players later shared photos with the PM. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah posted an image of him and his wife, Sanjana Ganesan, basking in the moment with Modi holding their 10-month old son, Angad.
Kuldeep Yadav also shared images of his interaction and looked emotional while being hugged by Modi.
Pacer Arshdeep Singh and his parents were all smiles posing with Modi.
“What a great honour, meeting our honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. Thank you sir for inviting us to the Prime Minister’s residence,” star batter Virat Kohli, who was adjudged player of the final for his 59-ball 76, posted on Instagram.
The team had earlier landed in Delhi amid much fanfare before heading to the Prime Minister’s residence for breakfast, where they spent close to two hours.
The Prime Minister’s Office shared a little over a minute-long video in which the players were seen engaging in a chat, sitting in a circle around Modi.
For the interaction, players wore customised jerseys with the world ‘CHAMPIONS’ inscribed in bold letters on the front.
It also featured two stars, denoting the two T20 World Cup titles, above the Team India crest on the top left corner. All of them were seen flashing smiles as they chatted with the PM.
BCCI president Roger Binny and secretary Jay Shah also presented the Prime Minister with a customised Team India jersey with ‘NAMO’ and ‘1’ inscribed on it.
(With PTI inputs)
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