Air India Brings Home T20 World Cup Champions Led by Rohit Sharma

A special Air India flight landed at Barbados Airport to bring home the Indian T20 World Cup champions, who were stranded in the West Indies due to Hurricane Beryl. The team, led by Rohit Sharma, is expected to arrive in Delhi on Thursday.

Before their departure, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a video of the World Cup Trophy that India won against South Africa. The BCCI captioned the video with ‘It’s coming home.’

The special chartered flight, arranged by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, also carries members of the Indian media who were stranded due to the hurricane.

Just hours after their T20 World Cup win, the Indian team had to stay inside their hotel rooms as the hurricane hit Barbados, leading to a curfew and disruptions in electricity and water supply.

Match Highlights

In the final match, India won the toss and chose to bat first. Despite an early setback at 34/3, a strong partnership between Virat Kohli (76) and Axar Patel (47) helped India recover. Contributions from Shivam Dube (27) took India to a total of 176/7 in 20 overs. South Africa’s top bowlers were Keshav Maharaj and Anrich Nortje.

In their chase of 177 runs, South Africa was initially reduced to 12/2. A partnership between Quinton de Kock (39) and Tristan Stubbs (31) brought them back into the game. Heinrich Klaasen’s half-century (52) posed a threat, but Indian bowlers Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya made a strong comeback, restricting South Africa to 169/8 in 20 overs.

Virat Kohli was named ‘Player of the Match’ for his outstanding performance. This victory marks India’s first ICC title since the Champions Trophy in 2013, ending their ICC trophy drought.