What must it feel like to be Rohit Sharma tonight? To hear his name reverberating at the Wankhede Stadium in the same rhythm as “Sachin, Sachin!”. To receive a standing ovation from his own T20 World Cup-winning teammates.
Or to be Virat Kohli. On the ground where he carried Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulders 13 years ago, the chants of fans were enough for Kohli to tear up.
Or even Hardik Pandya. Booed relentlessly in Mumbai Indians’ hues of blue just three months ago. Tonight, they couldn’t stop singing his name. Pandya smiled and waved back; almost like the two parties putting the chapter behind them. Everything was forgiven and forgotten.
Put simply, what would it feel like to be one of the Men in Blue. The world at their feet, lakhs queuing on the streets of Mumbai for them and thousands more packing the stands of Wankhede Stadium — the site of their 2011 World Cup triumph and where the 2007 T20 World Cup winning side held a similar celebration.
“This title is for the country,” Rohit said, his words sending the crowd into a tizzy. Turning to them, he added: “Mumbai never disappoints.”
Kohli concurred: “Bringing the trophy back to Wankhede is a very special feeling.”
It nearly rained on India’s victory parade. But when the moment came, even the heavens, which intermittently opened up, played ball.
The 1.7-km drive from the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) to Wankhede Stadium, on a normal day, takes not more than seven minutes. Thursday’s procession took almost two hours, with the open-top bus carrying Team India snaking through the deluge of crowd that had gathered on the streets of South Mumbai.
When they finally arrived at Wankhede, at around 8.30 pm, it sent the fans who had been waiting impatiently for almost five hours into a delirium.
On a night of nostalgia, emotions and endless intimate celebrations, there were stories steeped in symbolism wherever you looked.
The party began with “King” Kohli leading “Mumbaicha Raja” Rohit to a dance to dhol beats. It ended with a poignant moment, with the two walking side-by-side with the trophy in their hands.
A little while ago, Kohli had walked past his teammates to the back of the bus, where Rohit sat by himself, savouring every moment. Grabbing him by the arm, Kohli urged Rohit to join him in the front. Once there, the duo — whose careers have been the subject of many dressing-room intrigues — high-fived, laughed and hoisted the trophy together.
For the heroes retiring from the T20 format, there could not have been a grander farewell.
This was also a moment of sweet redemption for Rohit. It isn’t a secret how much it hurt him not to be a part of the 2011 World Cup side that lifted the trophy on this ground. Indeed, he was a part of a similar parade in 2007 which also, like Thursday, culminated at Wankhede.
Rohit was only a cub back then. Like Shivam Dube is now. Back in 2007, a 14-year-old Shivam Dube saw Rohit on the open-top bus; a moment that kept the fire within him burning to make it big. In the final last Saturday, his 27-run knock was similar in nature — and importance — to Rohit’s 30 seventeen years ago.
For long stretches, Dube shadowed another Mumbaikar, Surya Kumar Yadav, whose catch will go down as one of the iconic moments in Indian sport.
In his interview to The Indian Express, Yadav laughed about the “sannatta” (silence) that greeted them in Barbados the morning after the win. “Once we reach India, kya maahaul hoga, we will feel only there,” he said.
SKY would maybe crave some sannata now. For, their celebrations had gone from 0 to 100 in no time.
The chartered Air India flight that ferried the players from Barbados reached the New Delhi airport in the early hours of Thursday. Those hours on the long flight were their last few moments of peace before the madness began.
From the airport, where they were mobbed, they were whisked to a central Delhi hotel, where another mob awaited them. Greeted and garlanded at the hotel, they were asked to cut cakes, before changing into their India blues for breakfast with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Back to the airport from there, their delayed flight to Mumbai was welcomed with a water cannon salute on the runway. It was a full 13 hours after they touched down in Delhi that the victory parade got underway.
All this while, the crowd had started to trickle in at the Wankhede. The conditions at the stadium weren’t ideal for fans. Then again, India’s most romanticised stadium isn’t really among the most fan-friendly venues.
On Thursday, they had been waiting for the world champions since 3.30 pm, endured sunshine, humidity and rain, and braved a stampede-like situation to get into the stands, where they sat on dusty seats without water for large parts, and access to limited toilets.
Yet, the energy levels never dropped. Filled to capacity, the fans waved the national flag, chanted the names of their favourite players, sang and danced. The wait for this trophy was as excruciating for these all-weather Team India supporters as the players themselves.
Quite fittingly, the symbolic night ended with a touching gesture from the captain — a salute and a bow to the fans.