The Indian team, winner of the T20 World Cup 2024, will be felicitated by the BCCI and will also get to meet the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after they arrive in India.
After being stranded in the Caribbean islands for three days following their victory over South Africa in the final on Saturday (June 29), the national cricketers and their families, coaching staff, BCCI officials, and the country’s sports journalists will return home on a special flight arranged by the board.
The contingent was stranded in Barbados when Hurricane Beryl triggered a two-day stoppage. The airport reopened around Tuesday night (IST), but the squad had to wait till the Air India special charter flight dubbed AIC24WC arrived.
The flight, which took off from New Jersey, USA on July 2, arrived at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados around 2 a.m. local time. The flight took off about 4:50 a.m. local time and is scheduled to land in Delhi around 6:20 a.m. (IST) on Thursday.
The squad was supposed to leave at 6 p.m. local time on July 2 and arrive at 7.45 p.m. (IST) on Wednesday, but the trip was delayed since the plane landed late. After landing, the players will proceed to meet PM Modi at roughly 9:30 a.m. The felicitation event will most likely last a few hours.
BCCI arranges for an open bus parade from Mumbai Airport to Wankhede Stadium for Team India
As per BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla, the team will then fly to Mumbai from Delhi on a chartered flight. From the Mumbai airport, the team will be driven to the Wankhede Stadium, with the last 1 km of the ride to be on an open bus.
The open bus parade was done even when the MS Dhoni-led Indian side won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007.
According to the report, a presentation ceremony will be held at the Wankhede Stadium, during which captain Rohit Sharma will hand over the World Cup trophy to BCCI secretary Jay Shah. The trophy will remain at BCCI headquarters for the next two years. The players will travel to their hometowns on Thursday evening.
India will host the 2026 T20 World Cup jointly with Sri Lanka.
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