New Delhi, July 4: The T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team returned to the country on Thursday morning aboard a charter flight and went to the Prime Minister’s residence soon after. They met PM Modi at his 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence and interacted with him over breakfast.
The men in blue posed with the Prime Minister with the World Cup trophy before heading for the airport for their grand celebrations in Mumbai later in the day.
Along with the players, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) top brass Roger Binny and Jay Shah also met with the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X, sharing his experience from the meeting. “An excellent meeting with our Champions! Hosted the World Cup winning team at 7, LKM, and had a memorable conversation on their experiences through the tournament,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Skipper Virat Kohli, who had announced his retirement from T20Is after lifting the World Cup, took to his Instagram handle to thank PM Modi for hosting him and his teammates.
“What a great honor meeting our honorable prime minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji today. Thank you sir for inviting us to the prime minister’s residence,” he wrote.
According to sources, players from Mumbai, including Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dubey, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, have been invited to the Maharashtra Assembly on Friday to meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The Prime Minister has always taken a keen interest in sports. He had sent his congratulatory message right after the men in blue won the T20 World Cup last week.
He had also witnessed the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final match last year. He expects to motivate the country’s youth via the young achievers.
Hundreds of supporters, holding placards congratulating their favorites and waving the national flag, braved the weather to welcome the victorious side, which defeated South Africa by seven runs in the final in Bridgetown on Saturday last week.
Rohit, who held the coveted trophy in his hands, raised it for the fans to catch a glimpse before boarding the bus. Kohli gave a thumbs up to acknowledge the support before taking his place on the bus.
The squad won the country its second T20 world title, ending an 11-year wait for an ICC trophy, on Saturday. India’s previous ICC title was in 2013 when it won the Champions Trophy under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
