New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met members of the T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team over breakfast and said they had “memorable” discussions on the team’s experiences during the recently-concluded ICC tournament in the US and the Caribbean.
The Rohit Sharma-led team, which won the T20 World Cup by defeating South Africa last week, could not return home immediately after winning the title due to the ‘shutdown’ in Barbados due to Hurricane Beryl. The players stayed in their hotel after which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah arranged a special flight for their return.
“A wonderful meeting with our champions. Hosted the World Cup-winning team at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg and had a memorable interaction on their experiences during the tournament,” Modi said in a post on ‘X’ after meeting the players. Team India was given a rousing welcome at the airport before arriving at the Prime Minister’s residence for breakfast. Many players expressed their reactions on meeting the Prime Minister and also shared pictures on various social media platforms. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah posted a picture of himself and his wife Sanjana Ganesan, in which Modi was holding their 10-month-old son Angad in his arms and enjoying the moment.
Kuldeep Yadav also shared pictures of his conversation. He was seen getting emotional when Modi hugged him. Fast bowler Arshdeep Singh and his parents smiled and posed for pictures with Modi. Star batsman Virat Kohli said in an Instagram post, “What an honor it is to meet our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji.” Virat Kohli, who scored 76 runs in 59 balls in the final match against South Africa, said, “Thank you sir for inviting us to the Prime Minister’s residence.” The Prime Minister’s Office earlier shared a video of more than a minute in which the players were seen sitting around Modi and talking.
Captain Rohit Sharma was on the right of Prime Minister Modi while head coach Rahul Dravid was on his left. The players were wearing a special jersey, on which ‘World Champions’ was written in bold letters on the front and there were two stars on the top left corner, which represented India’s two T20 World Cup titles. All the players were seen smiling during the conversation with the Prime Minister. The players also got photographed with the Prime Minister. On this occasion, BCCI President Roger Binny and Secretary Jai Shah presented the Prime Minister with a special jersey of Team India with ‘NaMo’ and ‘1’ written on it.