Mumbai: The Indian cricketers got a warm welcome on their arrival on Tuesday from Johannesburg despite losing in the final to the mighty Australians by 125 runs on Sunday. Each of the eleven players, who arrived by a chartered flight which was delayed by two and a half hours, were garlanded by the staff of the Sahara Parivar, the official sponsors of the team. Rose petals were also showered on them. First to emerge from the terminal was the baby of the team and wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, who looked pretty serious probably with the HSC exams at the back of his mind. Opening batsman Virender Sehwag, who followed Patel, seemed to be enjoying all the attention and was seen shaking his leg to the drum beats outside the airport. The Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly, who looked really relaxed, followed next and in fact waved to the fans who were cheering every member of the team. However, the loudest cheer was reserved for the batting maestro and the man-of-the-tournament Sachin Tendulkar with Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh following him. Dinesh Mongia, Sanjay Bangar and Anil Kumble also received loud cheers before they got into the team bus. Among other celebrities who came out of the terminal before the team members, were former Indian captain and now a TV commentator Sunil Gavaskar, his brother in-law and match referee Gundappa Vishwanath, former BCCI chief Rajsingh Dungarpur, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar and MCA vice-president Praveen Bharve. Vice-captain Rahul Dravid, Srinath, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif did not come with the rest of the team and were expected to arrive in the evening. The team was earlier scheduled to arrive later on Tuesday night but last minute changes in the plan saw it board a chartered flight which got delayed by about two and a half hours.
Extras:'I've 9000 under my belt, I don't have to prove a thing'
E-mail
To the Editor
Print
