Wankhede Stadium Erupted With ‘Vande Mataram’ Chants As India Welcomes the T20 Champions

After the long wait of 13 years, India again became the world champions in cricket after beating the proteas by 7 runs in the finals of ICC World Cup 2024 in the Caribbean Islands.

After landing in Delhi and having breakfast with the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, the team went to Mumbai for the grand reception and the victory parade. The victory parade was planned from the Trident Hotel to the legendary Wankhede stadium, which is witnessing this thing another time in its lifetime.

Mumbai at Standstill:

For India cricket fans two moments are unforgettable, one the victory parade of the 2007 T20 World Cup win when MS Dhoni said, “Log kahte hai Mumbai ek aisa shehar hai jo chalte hi rehta hai, lekin aaj hum Mumbai ko standstill pe leke aaye hai.” And the chants of “Vande Mataram," on the night of the 2011 Cricket World Cup finals. 

After the wait of 17 years the city of dreams, the city that never sleeps, Mumbai witnessed those moments again when it came to a standstill and thousands of fans were on the road. Tomorrow the coastline at the Marine Driver disappeared as there was a sea of fans covering the streets. The roads were covered with fans in the blue jersey holding the tricolour high in their hands waiting to welcome the champions. As the champion team with captain Rohit Sharma settled on the bus the convoy started moving to Wankhede Stadium which had been waiting for this moment for a decade.  

“VANDE MATARAM, VANDE MATARAM”:

Tomorrow after the ceremony when players were doing a lap on the ground and throwing signed balls into the crowd, the DJ plays Vande Mataram, and the whole Wankhede stadium erupted with it. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and all the other players were singing the song at the highest of their vocal chords. It was a surreal moment that the fans, the players and anyone will never forget. The same stands from Hardik Pandya heard all the booing roared with the chants of “HARDIK, HARDIK,” when Rohit Sharma praised him. 

The video was shared by the BCCI(Board of Cricket for Cricket in India) on its social media handles. The fans also captured the moments in which the two legends of the Indian Cricket team couldn't stop themselves from shaking the leg and started dancing, and later the whole team joined them in the celebrations. 

The BCCI shared the video of players singing 'Vande Mataram',' and the creator of this legendary song Mr A.R. Rahman quoted the video with the similar lyrics. 

Trip Down the Memory Lane:

The last time when India was crowned as the world champions was in 2011, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit that six over long-on against Kulasekara the voice of Ravi Shastri in the background shouted, “Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd. India lift the World Cup after 28 years. The party starts in the dressing room and it's an Indian captain who's been absolutely magnificent on the night of the final.” 

Something amazing happened on that night of the finals, before the winning moment, the crowd started singing the song Vande Mataram in total capacity. The stadium was filled with almost 90% of Indian fans and all of them were chanting ‘Vande Mataram,’ it was a goosebumps moment and Wankhede recreated that again.  

The Men in Blue entered the ground to loud cheers and were awarded Rs 125 crore by the BCCI for winning the T20 World Cup for the second time. After the award ceremony, the team took a victory lap around the stadium, singing a patriotic song.

In South Mumbai’s Marine Drive, thousands of passionate fans greeted the victory parade, causing traffic to come to a complete standstill. The open bus parade, delayed by over two hours, started from the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Nariman Point after 7:30 PM and ended at Wankhede Stadium.