Marine Drive emulates Buenos Aires of 2022; Heroic return for world champions

NEW DELHI: After getting held in Barbados for three days due to Cyclone Beryl, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team landed at the Delhi airport at 6 am on Thursday. The team left for Maurya ITC Hotel from the airport and visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence around 11:30 am to hand over the trophy.

PM Modi engaged in a chat session with the players about the tournament and later had breakfast with the team. Later, the Indian team headed for Mumbai on Thursday evening and upon reaching received a water salute from the airport.

The parade in an open bus from Marine Drive to Wankhede Stadium was scheduled for 5 pm but was delayed by more than two hours. Lakhs of supporters filled the streets braving the rain, to take part in the victory parade. The Wankhede stadium which allowed free entry, was filled within hours.

At a felicitation ceremony held at Wankhede after the parade, BCCI handed over the Rs 125 crore prize money to the Indian team. The sea of support in Mumbai mirrored the same sentiments of Buenos Aires when Messi lifted the FIFA World Cup back in 2022 for Argentina. The jam-packed crowd created traffic snarls for hours while the aerial view of the resplendent aisles of Marine Drive was breathtakingly astonishing.