Drenched in euphoria over the historic Cricket World Cup victory, India today knew no bounds in celebrating the triumph of its Men in Blue as the joyous country showered them with praises and awards.
At 10.49 last night, the country erupted into unprecedented celebrations after Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team won against Sri Lanka in the nail-biting title clash.
As Captain Dhoni made amends for his poor form hitting the winning runs off Nuwan Kulasekara with a six, it was a dream come true for the Indian team, who had worked hard to achieve the feat, and the country that waited for 28 years for the Cup to return.
Emotional and poignant scenes unfolded at the renovated Mumbai's Wankhede stadium as the players hugged each other and fireworks lit the night sky with the cricket crazy country breaking into instant festivities.
A normally reserved Congress President Sonia Gandhi , who said the victory of the Indian team "will be etched in gold for generations to come", came out on the streets of Delhi joining thousands of fans in the hour of glory.
A beaming Gandhi popped out of her sports utility vehicle, standing on the seat with one leg on the door and waved the national flag. She shook hands with the fans and displayed Victory and thumbs-up signs, drawing lusty cheers from the crowd around on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg near the busy ITO crossing at around 11 PM.
She told the fans that the Indian cricket team has done the country really proud by winning the Cup. The fans responded to her by chanting "India-India" and "Vande Mataram".
Guarded by Special Protection Group personnel, Gandhi was in the midst of the fans for about 20 minutes before she drove off towards the Delhi Gate.
As she interacted with the celebrating fans, the ITO intersection, one of the busiest areas in Delhi, was chocked with a massive traffic snarl as vehicles came to a grinding halt. But few seemed to mind as a festive mood swept the whole nation.
Many esctatic men at the Wankhede stadium took off their shirts and did a round of the ground even as the securitymen tried to chase them away. Some took photographs of the pitch also.
President Pratibha Patil , who had witnessed the match at the stadium, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the nation in hailing the Indian cricket team saying it is a testimony to the hard work of the players and the astute leadership of Dhoni.
In a message to Dhoni, Patil said "the road to success has been long and hard. You and your team were tested at every stage." She also invited the Indian team for a reception.
The Prime Minister said "the hard work and the effort of M S Dhoni and his men have been rewarded".
BJP chief Nitin Gadkari , senior party leaders L K Advani and Arun Jaitley and Shiv Sena leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Manohar Joshi also witnessed the match in the stadium.
The windfall for the team started with the the Board of Control for Cricket in India announcing Rs one crore for each player.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also announced an award of Rs two crore for Dhoni and Rs one crore each for four Delhi players-- Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Ashish Nehra.
At 10.49 last night, the country erupted into unprecedented celebrations after Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team won against Sri Lanka in the nail-biting title clash.
As Captain Dhoni made amends for his poor form hitting the winning runs off Nuwan Kulasekara with a six, it was a dream come true for the Indian team, who had worked hard to achieve the feat, and the country that waited for 28 years for the Cup to return.
Emotional and poignant scenes unfolded at the renovated Mumbai's Wankhede stadium as the players hugged each other and fireworks lit the night sky with the cricket crazy country breaking into instant festivities.
A normally reserved Congress President Sonia Gandhi , who said the victory of the Indian team "will be etched in gold for generations to come", came out on the streets of Delhi joining thousands of fans in the hour of glory.
A beaming Gandhi popped out of her sports utility vehicle, standing on the seat with one leg on the door and waved the national flag. She shook hands with the fans and displayed Victory and thumbs-up signs, drawing lusty cheers from the crowd around on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg near the busy ITO crossing at around 11 PM.
She told the fans that the Indian cricket team has done the country really proud by winning the Cup. The fans responded to her by chanting "India-India" and "Vande Mataram".
Guarded by Special Protection Group personnel, Gandhi was in the midst of the fans for about 20 minutes before she drove off towards the Delhi Gate.
As she interacted with the celebrating fans, the ITO intersection, one of the busiest areas in Delhi, was chocked with a massive traffic snarl as vehicles came to a grinding halt. But few seemed to mind as a festive mood swept the whole nation.
Many esctatic men at the Wankhede stadium took off their shirts and did a round of the ground even as the securitymen tried to chase them away. Some took photographs of the pitch also.
President Pratibha Patil , who had witnessed the match at the stadium, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the nation in hailing the Indian cricket team saying it is a testimony to the hard work of the players and the astute leadership of Dhoni.
In a message to Dhoni, Patil said "the road to success has been long and hard. You and your team were tested at every stage." She also invited the Indian team for a reception.
The Prime Minister said "the hard work and the effort of M S Dhoni and his men have been rewarded".
BJP chief Nitin Gadkari , senior party leaders L K Advani and Arun Jaitley and Shiv Sena leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Manohar Joshi also witnessed the match in the stadium.
The windfall for the team started with the the Board of Control for Cricket in India announcing Rs one crore for each player.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also announced an award of Rs two crore for Dhoni and Rs one crore each for four Delhi players-- Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Ashish Nehra.
