Lionel Messi's tour concludes with a bang in Delhi, Jay Shah invites him for India's opening match in T20 World Cup
Lionel Messi's India tour concluded on Monday with the Argentine superstar being presented with the first ticket to the T20 World Cup by ICC chairman Jay Shah.
Lionel Messi's GOAT India tour finally concluded on Monday, December 15, with the Argentine superstar making a trip to the national capital, Delhi. The 2022 FIFA World Cup-winning star entered the Arun Jaitley Stadium around 4:20 PM IST and, after doing a few laps around the stadium and greeting the fans, the 38-year-old exchanged pleasantries with the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
Delhi was the last stop on Messi's India tour, as the striker had earlier greeted the crowd in Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. At the popular Arun Jaitley Stadium, Jay Shah felicitated Messi with the Team India jersey and also presented him with a signed bat.
Not just the bat and jersey, the ICC chairman also gave Messi an invitational ticket to India’s opening match at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, which will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. It is worth mentioning that the Suryakumar Yadav-led India will open their World Cup campaign against the United States on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
As soon as Messi was presented with the first ticket to the upcoming 20-team tournament, the entire crowd erupted, and the applause thundered across the venue.
After exchanging pleasantries, Messi posed for a picture with Jay Shah and Rekha Gupta. Even Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul were also presented with Team India jerseys. Messi was given the iconic No.10 jersey, while Suarez and de Paul were handed jersey Nos. 9 and 7, respectively.
What did Messi say to the Delhi crowd?
Messi also gave a brief speech in Delhi, speaking in his native language, Spanish. He thanked the entire Indian crowd for turning up in huge numbers.
"I want to thank everyone for the love and affection during these days in India - it was a truly beautiful experience for us," said Messi.
“We carry all this love with us - we will definitely return - hopefully one day to play a match or on another occasion, but we will definitely return to visit India. Thank you very much,” he added.
Earlier, Messi made a late arrival in Delhi after his flight from Mumbai was delayed due to the dense fog in the national capital.
Speaking of Messi, his GOAT India tour began on Saturday with the Argentine superstar arriving in Kolkata first. However, the proceedings began on a sour note as Messi made his way out of the Salt Lake Stadium after just 15 minutes owing to mismanagement, and this led to some unsavoury scenes as fans hurled water bottles and broke chairs inside the premises.
However, this was the only blemish as everything went according to plan in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.
