New Delhi, March 6
The Indian cricket team, which created history by winning the tri-series title for the first time on Australian soil, returned home to a rousing welcome, with thousands of euphoric fans today rolling out the red carpet for their heroes.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his young bravehearts were accorded a heartwarming reception at a felicitation function where the top brass of the BCCI doled out hefty incentives for their historic triumph Down Under.
The bitter memories of an acrimonious tour marked by a racism row and constant on-field bickering between the two teams seemed all but forgotten as the Indians revelled in their moment of glory.
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Members of the Indian cricket team are all smiles during a felicitation ceremony at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday;
Over 25,000 fans turned up to cheer Team India.
— Tribune photos
by Mukesh Aggarwal |
Ferozeshah Kotla was thrown open to the Capital’s cricket fans, who came out in full force to catch a glimpse of their stars. Over 25,000 turned up for the just over an hour-long function.
“I thank all the fans for their support. I think this is the kind of motivation we need. It was a tough tour but the way my players conducted themselves both on and off the field was amazing. I hope we continue to conduct ourselves similarly in the coming tournaments,” Dhoni said in his brief speech at the felicitation function.
“I would also thank my team members without whom it (winning the title) would not have been possible. I hope we will continue to entertain you like this,” he added.
The team, which reached Mumbai in the morning, flew into the Capital by a chartered flight around 2.05 pm.
The entire squad that played in Australia during the Test and one-day series, except for pacer Irfan Pathan, set aside the travel fatigue to come for the function within two hours of reaching Delhi.
The victorious team was handed cheques of Rs 58 lakh each by BCCI president Sharad Pawar amid thunderous applause from adoring fans at the Kotla.
The BCCI, which had been criticised for turning the felicitation function of the Twenty20 World Cup winning team in Mumbai to a political circus, seemed better prepared this time.
The players, for once, were seated in the front row, unlike on the previous occasion where they had been relegated to the second row by BCCI officials and politicians in Mumbai.
“Beating Australia in Australia is an unprecedented achievement. I congratulate Dhoni and his team for this achievement,” Pawar said.
The BCCI chief also lauded the under-19 team’s World Cup triumph. “This is turning out to be a good year for Indian cricket. Virat Kohli led out under-19 team to World Cup victory, which has proved that the decision to promote youngsters was correct,” he pointed out.
Pawar said youngsters had made the Indian team a stronger unit. “The Indian team has become stronger with the influx of youth,” he said.
Pawar also advised the assembled fans not to ill-treat cricketers when they lose.
“This is a game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
When they win, you greet them with enthusiasm. But, you should be equally supportive when they lose and not run them down,” he said.
The board also lauded the contribution of the team’s support staff by giving Rs 10 lakh incentive.
Delhi’s world champion under-19 cricketers, Virat Kohli and Pradeep Sangwan, who were also felicitated at the function and were given Rs 2.5 lakh each.
Earlier, a few hundred fans waited outside the airport to catch a glimpse of Dhoni and his young warriors.
Top officials of the board and the Delhi and District Cricket Association were present at the airport to receive the team.
It was an emotional homecoming for the players as the waiting fans, many of them holding placards and the Tricolour, cheered them lustily as they came out of a terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in a flower-bedecked bus.
The frenzied media and the fans, however, could not interact and a have close glimpse of their heroes as the bus drove straightaway for the hotel without even stopping at the gate.
Even the information of which terminal they were arriving kept on changing apparently due to security reasons and newspersons had to hurry from the domestic arrival terminal to the cargo terminal of the IGI Airport at the last moment.
— PTI
