Team India's T20 World Cup victory celebrations turned into a joyous dance party on Thursday at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. After a victory lap to thank fans for their support, skipper Rohit Sharma, star batsman Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, and the entire Indian squad were filmed letting loose to the energetic beats of dhol-tasha, traditional Indian percussion instruments. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared the celebratory video on its social media channels.
After meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence in New Delhi, Team India returned to Mumbai, where they held an open-top bus parade to celebrate their T20 World Cup victory. This marks the return of the T20 World Cup trophy to India after 17 years.
The parade began at the National Centre for the Performing Arts and concluded at Wankhede Stadium. Fans flocked to the stadium to witness the felicitation ceremony. Following the ceremony, the team took a victory lap to thank the fans for their support throughout the tournament.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, amid the celebrations, danced to dhol beats, a rare sight that delighted fans. The video, shared by BCCI on their X handle (formerly Twitter), showed Sharma and Kohli dancing together before other teammates joined in, turning the celebration into a lively party.
Both Sharma and Kohli announced their retirement from T20Is after the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, passing the baton to the younger generation. Sharma retired as the leading run-getter in T20Is with 4,231 runs in 159 matches, while Kohli finished as the second leading run-scorer with 4,188 runs in 125 matches. Together, they shared 1,350 runs in partnership, including three centuries and five half-centuries, at an average of 32.14 in 42 matches.
Virat Kohli revealed during the felicitation ceremony that both he and Sharma were emotional after their win against South Africa in the T20 World Cup final. "This is the first time in 15 years that I have seen Rohit show so much emotion," Kohli said. "When we were climbing those steps [at Kensington Oval], he was crying, and I was crying."
In the final, Kohli played a crucial innings, scoring 76 off 59 balls. Sharma emerged as the highest run-getter for India in the tournament, with 257 runs, including three fifties, at an average of 36.71 and a strike rate of 156.70 in eight matches.
