LIVE News: T20 World Cup-winning Team India returns home, gets grand welcome at Delhi airport

The ICC T20 World Cup-winning Indian team landed in Delhi on Thursday to a warm welcome from fans who were waiting to see their favourite heroes and see the silverware. The team members, support staff, their families and media were stranded in Barbados, which was hit by Hurricane Beryl, a category four hurricane that was making landfall in Barbados at the time, with Grantley Adams International Airport in Bridgetown closed for three days.

The flight was organised by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah and took off on July 2 before arriving in Delhi around 6am on Thursday morning. Board officials and members of the tournament’s media contingent were also on the flight.

As soon as the Indian players landed at their respective airports, they were greeted with loud cheers by fans, who shouted ‘India India’ at the top of their lungs, while some also shouted the names of their favourite players upon seeing them. Men in Blue also acknowledged the support of their fans by waving at them after they boarded the team bus that will take them to the ITC Maurya hotel, where the team will be staying.

India ended a 13-year ICC Trophy drought with a win in the final, beating South Africa by seven runs on Saturday. Virat Kohli’s 76 helped India reach 176/7 while Hardik Pandya (3/20) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/18) helped India restrict the Proteas to 169/8 despite Heinrich Klaasen’s 52 in just 27 balls. Bumrah, who bagged 15 scalps during the tournament at a stunning economy rate of 4.17, was given the honour of ‘Player of the Tournament’.

From the hotel, Team India reached the ITC Maurya hotel, where they were to stay for their meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Interestingly, Virat, Rohit, Hardik and head coach Rahul Dravid were spotted at the hotel.