The World Champions are home with the trophy!

The Rohit Sharma-led Team India arrived in New Delhi on Thursday morning after being stranded for two days in the hurricane-hit Barbados since winning the T20 World Cup 2024. They received a rousing reception at the New Delhi airport and the hotel where they checked in before meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Indian team was scheduled to leave for Mumbai for a victory parade and they boarded a Vistara flight – UK1845. As circulated on social media, the number ‘1845’ was dedicated to the jersey numbers of Virat Kohli (18) and Rohit Sharma (45), the two senior most players in the victorious Indian team.

In fact, the airlines also took to the microblogging site X and wrote, “UK 1845 #Staytuned.”

Meanwhile, a special open-top bus is gearing up for the extravaganza evening in the city. The champions will be driven around the city in a specially designed bus, making the occasion a visually spectacular and appropriate celebration of the team’s victory.

The BCCI has arranged a road show for world champions in Mumbai from Nariman Point to Wankhede Stadium, where the team will be felicitated by the Indian board. The event is scheduled to start at 4 pm.

Mumbai Police have made stringent measures to ensure the safety and security of the spectators including traffic diversions on the route.

India pipped South Africa in a nail-biting T20 World Cup final by seven runs to end their 11-year-long ICC title drought in Barbados last week. India also lifted their first ICC trophy post legendary captain MS Dhoni’s retirement in 2020.

The win also came 17 years after India had lifted the inaugural edition of the T20 extravaganza in the year 2007, also under the leadership of the charismatic Dhoni.

Notably, India won its last three ICC titles – 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup, and 2013 Champions Trophy – under MS Dhoni’s captaincy.