Champagne, Gangnam and a bit of emotion as Team India party hard

Champagne flowed and the players danced to the latest Hindi and Punjabi pop numbers as India partied till the small hours of Monday after clinching the ICC Champions Trophy here on Sunday.

The celebrations had started at Edgbaston itself after India outsmarted England by five runs in a rain-hit final reduced to just 20 overs a side. Virat Kohli led the jubilant celebrations with some Gangnam-style jigs once the team received their medals and white jackets. The party continued once the team returned to its hotel on Birmingham's upmarket Broad Street area late in the evening. (Also read: BCCI announces Rs 1 crore cash prize for each player)

Team sources it was one 'wild' night and all rules were 'relaxed' to let the boys have some fun. In the last three weeks, the Indians had confined themselves to their hotel rooms and only stepped out for training or matches. There was very limited interaction with the fans or the media. (Related read: Five Indians, led by Dhoni, in ICC Team of the Tournament)

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said Sunday's win at Edgbaston can't be compared with the 2011 World Cup in Mumbai. "We had two different scenarios. In India, we were always in the public eye. The media was hounding us every minute and the pressure was killing. Before the Mumbai final, there was a lot of pressure on the team. Here during the Champions Trophy, it was very different. We had our space and privacy and the pressure was much less. The fans turned up at our games and the support was amazing everywhere we went," said Ashwin.

On Sunday evening, there were no curfew hours and no code of conduct. Team manager Ranjib Biswal said: "We let the boys have some fun. We had generally kept ourselves away from the public eye and concentrated on cricket, but Sunday night belonged to the boys. They won a terrific final under pressure and deserved to let their hair down."

Several fans followed the team bus to catch a glimpse of the star players as security guards kept them at a safe distance. Sources said the organisers were worried after British Tamils had protested during the India versus Sri Lanka semi-final in Cardiff last week.

The Indian team will be travelling to the West Indies on Wednesday for the tri-series. "There is no pressure on the boys now. They will relax till they go to London to catch their flight," said Biswal.

The absence of senior players in the squad -- skipper Mahendra Singh is the senior-most at 31 -- let the young players have some 'extra' fun, but no girlfriends were allowed.

Biswal said the young Indian players loved to party. "This victory was quite special after India lost the Test and ODI series against England in 2011. There was a lot of hurt and the boys didn't forget that," he said.

Dhoni, who became the only Indian captain to win a 50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy, said there was a bit of similarity between Sunday's five-run win and the 2007 T20 World Cup.

"I feel the first Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 that we won and this tournament, there is a bit of similarity. There were quite a number of players who were making their comebacks into the team in 2007, so they wanted to do well desperately...in this team too, there are a few who wanted to do well and cement their position in the side," said Dhoni.

The skipper added: "In the 2011 World Cup I think we had the right mix. We had very experienced players and some of them felt it could be their last World Cup because of age and everything. Since it was happening in India, we all wanted to do well because the expectation was too much. We just wanted to express ourselves. I think there are huge similarities between 2007 and this team."

One player who definitely sealed his position in the Indian side is Shikhar Dhawan. The left-handed opener was adjudged the Player of the Tournament for showing tremendous consistency with the bat. He ended the tournament with 363 runs from five matches, including two centuries and one half-century. He averaged a staggering 90.75 with the bat at a stunning strike-rate of 101.39.

"God has blessed me. This award is more special because I had waited for this opportunity. I was sad that I wasn't getting a chance but I never doubted my abilities," Dhawan said.

Dhawan's moustache was the 'style' of the final at Edgbaston. Several Indian fans, including two-year-old kids, dressed up with colourful moustaches. Dhawan said he "loved" his style and called the moustaches "an Indian thing."