Welcomes home the world cup heroes it rains in Mumbai this time of the year and the monsoon kept its date with the city on Thursday (July 4) evening. It drizzled sporadically throughout the city but Mumbaikars won’t be stopped. They turned up in lakhs to greet the cricket heroes who arrived in the city with the T20 World Cup.
A small seasonal shower is nothing compared to Hurricane Beryl that confined the Indian team to the hotel rooms for two days in Barbados. But perhaps even that couldn’t have stopped Mumbaikars today.
“Mumbai never disappoints. We got a solid reception. On behalf of the team, we would like to thank the fans. I am very very happy and relieved,” Rohit Sharma said amid thunderous cheers from the packed Wankhede crowd that waited to receive the World Cup heroes since 3 pm. Welcomes home the world cup heroes There were about 35,000 people inside the stadium and as many outside, having not managed to enter the ground. Hundreds of thousands filled the iconic Marine Drive on which the triumphant World Cup team was paraded by an open air bus. It was sea of people on the street, often appearing bigger than the adjacent Arabian Sea.
Not too long ago, these fans were after Hardik Pandya for replacing Rohit as skipper of the Mumbai Indians team. They booed him and called him names. Tonight when Rohit mentioned ‘his Pandya’, who bowled the all-important final over against South Africa in the final, the crowd erupted in crescendo.
Welcomes home the world cup heroes “Hats off to him to bowl that last over. No matter how many runs you need, there’s always so much pressure to bowl that over. Hats off to him,” Rohit said of last over of the final in which Pandya defended 15 runs. The Wankhede started cheering ‘Hardik, Hardik’ as Pandya stood up to acknowledge their appreciation. The hate story between them is a passe now; there is a renewed love affair between Mumbai crowd and Pandya.
The city celebrates and worships cricket and heroes. Thursday was the right ocassion to celebrate. And they did it the way only they can, waiting for more than six hours and braving the inclement weather. In the wait for the team which landed in the city around 5.30 pm and participated in the road show around 7.30 pm, the fans’ patience never ran thin. The collective energy was unbreakable.
Cricket is deeply entrenched into the fabric of the common man here. From an elitist sport when the erstwhile British rulers introduced it, the game has transformed into a mass sport. In the 60s and 70s, when the Merchants, Manjrekars, Umrigars, Wadekars started playing the game, it attracted the fans in unprecedented numbers. By the 70s when Gavaskar started playing, he probably became India’s first official icon. Mumbai’s very own Sachin Tendulkar reached legendary status with his cricketing accomplishments, including winning an ODI World Cup title at the Wankhede in 2011.
Rahul Dravid summed up Mumbai’s passion for the game. “I’m going to miss this love. What we have seen today, is absolutely phenomenal. I think it is the fans and people who make cricket the game it is. We are truly indebted to the guys,” Dravid, who will be leaving the Indian team, said.