New Delhi: Rohit Sharma, Suryakymar Yadav and Hardik Pandya were given a standing ovation by the Ambani family for their T20 World Cup triumph on Caribbean islands last week during the pre-wedding festivities of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Mumbai. Incidentally, the trio play for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and have been a pillar of the franchise for nearly a decade. Ever since the Indian team lifted the T20 World Cup, Rohit, Hardik and Suryakumar have been receiving love from everyone along with their other teammates.
India ended a 13-year ICC World Cup trophy drought with a victory in the final, defeating South Africa by seven runs. Rohit ended the tournament with a career-best performance with the bat, with 257 runs in eight games at an average of 36.71 and a strike rate of over 156. His best score was 92, and he scored three half-centuries in the competition to become the second-highest run-getter.
The Indian captain also retired from the shortest format of the game, as a double T20 World Cup champion, winning the title back in 2007 as a young up-and-coming prodigy. In 151 T20I matches, Rohit has scored 4,231 runs at an average of 32.05 with a strike rate of over 140. He scored five centuries and 32 fifties in his career, with the best score of 121 not out.
Rohit is also the leading run-scorer in the format. Earlier on Thursday morning, the T20 World Cup-winning Indian team touched down in the national capital, Delhi, to a warm welcome from fans eagerly waiting for a glimpse of their favourite heroes and the trophy. Following their meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, the players departed for Mumbai.
In Mumbai, the Men in Blue had an open bus victory parade from Marine Drive to the iconic Wankhede Stadium. The parade was an affair to remember and marvel at, as thousands of fans gathered at Marine Drive and surrounded the bus before it could even get Indian players on it. The team went to Wankhede amid cheers, chants, and claps from passionate fans.
At the Wankhede, they were felicitated with the prize money of Rs 125 crore by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) office-bearers. Players also talked about their win, and the performances of key players in the T20 World Cup inside a jam-packed Wankhede and danced their hearts out. The event also featured the players taking a victory lap to the tune of the country’s national song, ‘Vande Mataram’.
