The members of the Indian cricket team have started to return home after a victorious ICC Champions Trophy campaign in Dubai. Head coach Gautam Gambhir landed in Delhi on Tuesday while captain Rohit Sharma returned home in Mumbai as well. Unlike the T20 World Cup 2024, where the entire Indian team had returned home in a charter flight, players and the members of the support staff are arriving in different cities from Dubai at different timings. The Indian had an open bus parade and felicitation ceremony at the Wankhede stadium last year, after the team was crowned T20 World Cup winners, but such an act isn’t scheduled to take place this time, least in the coming days.
With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign set to begin on March 22, the players are expected to join their respective camps in a few days. The players, understandably, want to switch off for a little while, rejuvenate, before they join their teams ahead of the new season. In fact, some of the IPL franchises have already started their camps ahead of the 18th season of the T20 league.
Hence, the logistical headache and lack of breathing space between the players’ return and the start of the IPL doesn’t allow the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to schedule a T20 World Cup-like program in the coming days.
The other players too left Dubai for their destinations, some of them, as per reports, opting for short vacations abroad before returning to the country to start their preparations for the upcoming IPL campaign.
India bagged their third Champions Trophy title, the first team to do so, by defeating New Zealand by four wickets in the final played at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
The players decided to disperse separately because there was no elaborate celebration awaiting the team on its arrival home after winning the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Mumbai Indians, who have Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in their ranks, began their pre-tournament practice session at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have the services of Mohammed Shami, had kicked off their pre-season camp earlier this month.
With IANS Inputs
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