Mumbai: Lakhs of Mumbaikars participated in a grand celebration accorded to the winners of T-20 Cricket World Cup here on Thursday evening.
Even before arrival of the Team India here from New Delhi in a Vistara flight, thousands of fans had gathered outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) and along the entire stretch from the airport to Nariman Point and also the 1.8-km-long route to the Wankhede Stadium.
As the crowds swelled into lakhs, they were seen waving the Indian Tricolour, carrying congratulatory placards for Team India. They chanted slogans like ‘We Love You, Team India’, ‘Team India Zindabad’, and more at various locations en route, to express their joy as the World Cup came to India after a gap of 17 years after 2007.
After landing at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the Team India’s Vistara flight was accorded a ‘water salute’ in celebration of the T20 World Cup victory. At the tarmac, the team members were welcomed with the red carpet, followed by a celebratory cake-cutting ceremony at the terminal.
From there, the victorious Men in Blue proceeded in two gleaming white buses to south Mumbai for a victory parade atop an open-deck bus, specially brought here from Gujarat.
The two buses, with a long retinue of police pilot cars, side-cars and tailing cars, moved out of the airport, followed the Western Express Highway towards Bandra and eventually towards Nariman Point.
The Team India heroes got out of the buses and hopped onto the open-deck special bus for the victory rally, sporting the teams colours.
Some of the heroes on the upper deck included Team India captain Rohit Sharma, coach Rahul Dravid, along with other players, BCCI secretary Jay Shah and Rajeev Shukla, holding aloft the trophy for benefit of the cheering crowds.
After the short and leisurely, 1.8-km-long ride, the bus finally reached the gates of the Wankhede Stadium, where another celebration awaited them with exhilarated fans and cricket-lovers.
