Mumbai : Team India will celebrate the World Cup victory with fans in an open-top bus in Mumbai and the special vehicle, painted in colours of Team India, has reached Marine Drive in the city ahead of team's arrival from Delhi.
The bus also has a picture of the elated Indian team after they won the T20 World Cup trophy in the West Indies. The Rohit Sharma-led side will travel in the bus from Marine Drive to the iconic Wankhede Stadium celebrating the victory with the cricket fans.
The team arrived in Delhi on Thursday morning to a grand welcome from fans and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi over breakfast. Later, they left for Mumbai.
Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik told ANI that India captain Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dubey and Yashasvi Jaiswal will meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday at the Assembly.
"Today's programme in Mumbai has been organised by BCCI. Team India players from Mumbai including Captain Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dubey and Yashasvi Jaiswal will come to the Maharashtra Assembly tomorrow to meet CM Eknath Shinde. Being a member of MCA, I invited the players and they have accepted my invitation," Sarnaik said.
MCA member Jitendra Awhad said India won the World Cup after a long time and they will be welcomed in land of Cricket, Mumbai.
"Not only in Mumbai but Cricket is a religion in the entire India," he said. During their meeting with the Prime Minister, the 'Men in Blue' wore a special jersey sporting two stars over the BCCI's emblem. The stars represented the two T20 World Cup wins. 'CHAMPIONS' was written on the jersey in bold letters.
From the Delhi airport, Team India reached the ITC Maurya hotel, where they stayed before their meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A special cake featuring the T20 World Cup trophy was cut at the hotel to celebrate the win. Rohit, Virat, Dravid and all-rounder Hardik Pandya were among the stars who took part in the cake-cutting event. The cake featured the trophy and some pictures of Indian stars.
India ended a 13-year ICC World Cup trophy drought with victory in the final, defeating 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 Proteas to 169/8 despite Heinrich Klaasen's 52 in just 27 balls. Bumrah, who got 15 scalps throughout the tournament at a stunning economy rate of 4.17, got the 'Player of the Tournament' honour.