Mumbai braved rain, traffic and lathi-charge on Wednesday to greet its new superstars: T-20 champions Dhoni & Co. Hysterical crowds lined the 30-kilometre route.
MUMBAI: It was their cup. Mumbai braved rain, traffic and lathi-charge on Wednesday to greet its new superstars: T-20 champions Dhoni & Co. Hysterical crowds lined the 30-kilometre route, from Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport to Wankhede Stadium, cheering cricket’s newest champions.
Overwhelmed by an euphoric Mumbai — at least 8 lakh people had spilled onto the streets to welcome Team India — a wistful Dhoni told a packed Wankhede Stadium: “Mumbai is a city that never stops moving, but it came to a standstill to welcome us. It made me realise the enormity of our win.”
True. Because Mumbai thronged the roads for over four hours, after Dhoni’s demons arrived from Jo’burg at 8:30 am. The team was welcomed at Sahar by thousands of fans, including Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, deputy chief minister RR Patil, BCCI president Sharad Pawar, vice-presidents Lalit Modi and Rajeev Shukla, secretary Niranjan Shah and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar.
The cricketers looked jaded after a long flight from Jo’burg –they flew on Emirates Airlines which had a stopover at Dubai – but seeing the ecstatic reception they received outside the arrival terminal, all of them broke into bhangra.
The 15 players then boarded an open-top double-decker bus. As their motorcade crawled a distance of 30 kilometres from the airport to the stadium—where the BCCI felicitated them—the crowds greeted them with gulal and garlands. Such was the festive atmosphere that cricketers got down from the bus frequently to mix in the street celebration.
“We were very happy after lifting the cup, but I think people are so much happier than us. It is unbelievable,” said Dhoni.
Women stood on balconies, beating plates and spoons. Cars and bikes honked in delight. Wankhede stadium was packed with at least 35,000 people, and there was a sea of people waiting outside to rush in.
Such was the frenzy at the stadium that the police had to lathi-charge the crowd. Even the team’s victory lap, after the felicitation, had to be aborted as people mobbed the players.
Well, these were minor snafus on a festive day. After all, Mumbai has never had such jubilation. Such delirium. Truly, the 1983 welcome to Kapil’s De-vils in Delhi seems to have been overshadowed by Mumbai’s reception to T20’s small-town superstars.
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