The Indian cricketers, having obtained a quiet farewell in India after winning the Champions Trophy in Dubai, were led by Rohit Sharma. The captain Rohit brought the team back after giving India their second ICC title within nine months in Mumbai on Monday evening. It will be one week before his men converge on their IPL teams to prepare for the tournament starting March 22. “All the players with families left from Dubai on Monday. There are some players who have stayed back for a couple of days,” the BCCI source quoted by PTI said.
With players preferring to get their much-needed rest before the two-month-long IPL, the BCCI decided not to felicitate the team as it had done when the team returned from Barbados after winning the T20 World Cup.
Also, the players had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi after their return from Barbados via a special flight back in July.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir and pacer Harshit Rana landed in Delhi Monday night. Virat Kohli, with wife Anushka Sharma, left the team hotel right after the team returned from Dubai International Stadium late on Sunday night.
Shreyas Iyer, who was instrumental in the middle order, will captain Punjab Kings and will join the team on March 16.
The victory over New Zealand by four wickets gave India its third title in the Champions Trophy. They were the only unbeaten side in the eight-team tournament.
Though Pakistan were the hosts of the tournament, India played all their matches in Dubai as per the agreed hybrid model.
