Team India's victory parade in Mumbai with T20 World Cup on July 4; Rohit Sharma invites fans

INDIA T20 World Cup 24 winning captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday (3) shared a message for the Indian cricket fans in which he invited them to take part in a victory parade at Marine Drive and Wankhede Stadium in the western city of Mumbai to celebrate the recent World Cup victory.

India on Saturday (29) beat South Africa by seven runs in Barbados in the West Indies to clinch their second T20 World Cup crown after 2007. The squad, along with the support staff members, families, some officials of the Indian cricket board and media persons, was left stranded in the Caribbeans for four days due to a extreme hurricane before a special Air India plane evacuated them on Wednesday (3).

The champions are expected to reach New Delhi early on Thursday (4).

Read: Special Air India plane to fly stranded Indian cricket team home from Barbados

Taking to X, Sharma said, "we want to enjoy this special moment with all of you. So let’s celebrate this win with a victory parade at Marine Drive & Wankhede on July 4th from 5:00pm onwards. It’s coming home". The post was viewed 1.5 million times and liked 147,000 times at the time of writing this report.

Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India who was also with the Indian team in the West Indies, made a post confirming Thursday's event.

Read: Virat Kohli retires from T20 internationals after India win World Cup

“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! Save the date!" he tweeted, along with a combined picture showing Sharma's men with the World Cup and the 2007 team parading on an open double-decker bus in Mumbai after winning the crown that year.

India had beaten arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs in the final of the 2007 edition in South Africa, which was also the inaugural one.

Sharma and his squad left Barbados early on Wednesday after three frustrating days of wait due to Hurricane Beryl in a chartered flight named AIC24WC—Air India Champions 24 World Cup. The return flight will take 16 hours before the cricketers land in New Delhi.