Young guns 'n' roses at Kotla party

Team India lands in Mumbai, later comes to Delhi for mega reception at Ferozeshah Kotla, reports Anand Vasu.

The spotlight was on young guns and roses. Half a day of

HT Image

Chak de

India and adrenaline-fuelled BCCI felicitation ended in Mahendra Singh Dhoni telling 30,000-plus people at the Ferozeshah Kotla that this team would do their best to "entertain the fans just as they had done (in Oz)".

Members of the team walked away with cheques and bouquets, having ended a tempestuous and two-and-a-half months with their first ever ODI tri-series win Down Under.

Fans thronged the Kotla's gates from noon, though it was only after 2 pm that news came that the team had arrived in Delhi from Mumbai. And the players entered the ground only at 4.30 pm.

Fuelled by a selection of Bollywood hits of a nationalistic bent, and egged on by a

bhangra

troupe, fans saved their loudest roars for Ishant Sharma, the local lad turned national hero.

BCCI boss Sharad Pawar said: "It's heart-warming to see the manner in which you people have welcomed this team today... But you must remember this is a game and just as there are great wins, there will also be losses, and even in those times you must support them...."