Modi wins hearts by not touching T20 World Cup while clicking pictures with India cricketers

WHILE all eyes on Thursday (4) were on India's T20 World Cup-winning cricketers who returned home in a special flight from hurricane-battered Barbados five days after winning the trophy but it was prime minister Narendra Modi who won a lot of hearts with his gesture at the time of meeting the national team at his residence in New Delhi.

The prime minister had a light conversation with the members of the World Cup-winning squad for nearly two hours and also hosted the players and other members over breakfast. He also appeared in a photo session with the players but did not touch the trophy and only opted to hold hands with captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid both of whom held the cup while posing for a group picture.

The gesture did not go unnoticed and fans appreciated it on X.

Read: Modi meets India T20 World Cup-winning team in Delhi

“PM Narendra Modi didn't hold the World Cup trophy, instead held Rohit and David's hands,” one fan said.

Some even compared it to former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi's act of holding the trophy after India won their first World Cup in 1983 under Kapil Dev. One user called such an act showed the character of a "Narcissist dictator" while praising Modi as a "leader".

Two top officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India -- president Roger Binny and secretary Jay Shah -- presented a customised team jersey to Modi with the name 'NAMO' and No. '1' inscribed on its back.

Read: Virat Kohli’s World Cup win post India’s most liked on Instagram

The PM posted about the meeting on X, saying, "An excellent meeting with our Champions! Hosted the World Cup winning team at 7, LKM and had a memorable conversation on their experiences through the tournament."

The cricketers then left for Mumbai where they took part in a victory parade in an open double-decker bus with the trophy among the sea of supporters, reviving the memory of 2007 when similar scenes were seen in the coastal city after India won the inaugural T20 World Cup under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.