The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Flight with call sign AIC24WC, breakfast with PM, open-top bus parade
LIKE M S Dhoni’s 2007 ICC World T20-winning team, Rohit Sharma’s victorious side will take a ride on an open-top bus in Mumbai on Thursday after their delayed return from Bridgetown, Barbados due to a hurricane. The parade will start from the National Centre for Performing Arts at Nariman Point and is scheduled to culminate at Wankhede Stadium.
“Join us for the Victory Parade honouring Team India's World Cup win! Head to Marine Drive and Wankhede Stadium on July 4th from 5:00 pm onwards to celebrate with us!,” Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted on X on Wednesday.
Before the victory parade, the team which is returning home on a chartered Air India plane, will land in New Delhi in the early hours of Thursday and attend a breakfast hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The players are tired and mentally fatigued. That is why it was decided to have a short open-top bus parade from NCPA, Nariman Point, to Wankhede Stadium, which is not more than 2 kilometres, followed by a prize distribution ceremony, where the Rs 125 crore prize money will be distributed by BCCI Secretary Jay Shah,” said a BCCI source. The Indian squad left Barbados on Wednesday afternoon and will also use a chartered plane to fly from Delhi to Mumbai. Following its departure from Barbados, the aircraft was the most-tracked plane globally on popular flight tracking service
Flightradar24. Apart from the players, the flight has on board the team's support staff, players’ family members, a few BCCI officials and some Indian mediapersons.
The aircraft had operated Air India’s Delhinew York flight a day earlier and was scheduled to operate the New York-delhi flight before it was repositioned to Bridgetown airport instead to bring back the Indian team stuck on the Caribbean island.
After their seven-run win over South Africa in the final, the Indian team's return home was delayed by Hurricane Beryl hitting the Caribbean, till the BCCI arranged the Air India flight to get the players home.
The special flight is expected to land in Delhi at around 6 am on Thursday, as per flight tracking data and information available on the Air India website. The total flight time is likely to be almost 16 hours.
The flight, which is being operated by a long-range Boeing 777-200LR aircraft named ‘Avijit’ (unconquered) and bearing registration VT-AEE, has a special call sign AIC24WC — a tribute to India’s title win.
Following its departure from Barbados, the aircraft was the most-tracked plane globally on popular flight tracking service Flightradar24.