Watch: Goosebumps guaranteed as Virat Kohli leads India to Vande Matram chants in Wankhede Stadium
Published - 05 Jul 2024, 11:27 AM | Updated - 24 Aug 2024, 04:07 AM
Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, and the other Indian cricketers gave the Wankhede crowd a night to remember on Thursday. The Indian World Cup-winning team was greeted by the Wankhede crowd on a night when Mumbai became a standstill.
The Indian team on Thursday had a roller coaster ride. They landed in New Delhi early morning around 4 am. Then they met the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and left for Mumbai in the afternoon.
They reached Mumbai by the evening and from the airport to the Wannkhede stadium their journey took a long time as they were greeted by a sea of people on the road. The Indian players had a road show from the Air India building across the Nariman Point to the Wanlkhede stadium.
At the Wankhde stadium then they were greeted by the loudest cheers from the spectators present there. The Indian players went around the Wankhdeground dancing and singing. The goosebumps moment came when Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and other players of the national team were seen singing Vande Mataram.
Watch: Virat Kohli Gives Wankhede Crowd A Goosebumps Moment
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The moment gave a real sense of pride and patriotism among the players and fans at the venue. The video was shared by BCCI with the caption: ‘Vande Mataram,’ and it garnered almost two million views on social media.
The journey from the airport to the Wankhede stadium was a special one as well and all the players celebrated and posed with the World Cup trophy in the bus parade. The Mumbai locals managed some extraordinary ways to watch their heroes make that journey.
Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja retired from T20I cricket after the end of the T20 World Cup. Kohli who struggled throughout the World Cup saved his best for the last as he scored a match-winning 76 and took India to 176. South Africa in the end had to chase a record total to win the match and they fell just seven runs short.
The match swung like a pendulum with both teams giving it their all. In the end, it was India who persisted and came out with a win as they were able to hold their nerves in the crunch moments. South Africa like always choked in the final overs and lost the match when they needed 30 off 30 balls with wickets in hand.
India won the ODI World Cup in 2011. They won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. India's trophy drought for 11 years ended with this World Cup win. This was India's first T20 World Cup title in 17 years.
"This was my last T20 World Cup and this is exactly what we wanted to achieve. This is an amazing game. I was telling Rohit (Sharma) when we went out to bat, I was like, one day you feel like you can't get a run and then you come out, and then things happen. God is great. I bow my head in gratitude. I'm just really grateful I was able to get the job done for the team on the day that it mattered the most," Kohli told host broadcasters after bagging the Player of the Match award.
