The Indian men’s cricket team, after winning the T20 World Cup in Barbados, will land in New Delhi during the early hours of Thursday, June 4. India beat South Africa in the final last week at the Kensington Oval to clinch a second T20 World Cup title, and first in 17 years. The Indian players and support staff members have been stuck in Barbados over the past few days due to a hurricane storm in the Caribbean islands. However, the entire contingent will return home on Thursday via a special flight arranged by the BCCI.

Air India’s special charter flight named AIC24WC — Air India Champions 24 World Cup — took off at 4:50 am local time on Wednesday (local time), carrying the Indian players and support staff.

The special flight is expected to land in the national capital — New Delhi — on Thursday at around 6:20 am (IST). The flight was earlier scheduled to leave around 6pm local time on July 2 and arrive at 7.45pm (IST). However, the departure was delayed as Air India’s aircraft landed late in Barbados.

After landing in India, the players and support staff members will meet PM Narendra Modi at 9:30 AM, with the felicitation ceremony likely to last for a couple of hours. The entire contingent will then leave for Mumbai via another chartered flight.

According to a report in India Today, the players and the support staff will leave for the Wankhede Stadium after arriving in Mumbai. The last 1km of the journey would be done in an open bus.

The report also added that a presentation ceremony will take place at the Wankhede Stadium, where India captain Rohit Sharma will hand over the trophy to BCCI Secretary Jay Shah. The trophy will remain in the BCCI headquarters for the next two years.

The players will then leave for their respective hometowns on Thursday evening.

However, a report in Dainik Jagran claimed that the open bus parade will take place on Friday, instead of Thursday, as the long flight journey from Barbados to Delhi and the felicitation ceremony might leave the players tired.