Seven Days Later: Where India's T20 World Cup Winners Went After Triumph

For Sanju Samson, that meant a 404-kilometre drive across Kerala, even spending time at a local chai stop. The man of the tournament slipped into Kozhikode quietly, almost anonymously, a day after landing in the state. On Thursday evening, he pulled up outside the house of his friend and Kerala teammate Rohan Kunnummal in Anakullam, Koyilandy - unannounced. Rohan's family opened the door to find a World Cup winner standing there. Samson stayed barely half an hour. But in that short visit were years of shared cricketing journeys. They had opened together for Kerala, most memorably stitching an unbeaten 177-run stand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last November against Odisha. When Samson graduated to the Indian team, it was Rohan who took over as Kerala captain.

"Success is better when shared with those who saw the beginning," Samson later said. "Travelled across Kerala to meet the teammates and friends who have been part of this incredible ride."

Kerala will celebrate him properly soon. The Kerala Cricket Association plans to felicitate him on Monday at the inauguration of its new stadium in Manglapuram. But Samson's own celebration had already happened - on a quiet evening with old friends.

If Samson chose the road, Axar Patel chose the dinner table.

Back home in Gujarat, the allrounder kept the celebrations intimate. Parents, relatives, his wife Meha - and one special spectator from the final. His young son Haksh. It was the first time Haksh had watched Axar play in the stadium. The memory of that night in Ahmedabad has already become the one Axar says he will never forget.

"Haksh first time saw my cricket match. And I won for him," Axar said. "That will never be a forgotten moment for me."

The celebrations continued with a quiet family dinner - the kind where cricket stories are retold and the tournament slowly sinks in. Elsewhere, Hardik Pandya's hometown of Vadodara is still waiting.

His childhood coach Jitendra Singh admitted he watched the semi-final and final with a mixture of pride and nerves. Pandya hasn't returned yet; he has stayed back in Mumbai with his mother and brother Krunal as the family celebrates together.

But in Vadodara, the celebrations happened anyway.

Singh's young students visited a Hanuman temple to offer prayers - a promise of sorts that one day Pandya will bring the trophy home to the city that shaped him.

While some players headed home, Abhishek Sharma headed straight for the mountains.

In a moment that felt almost cinematic, he arrived at the Vaishno Devi shrine in a white Kurta, stepping off a helicopter and walking straight into the temple complex with a small group of friends.

No press conference, no speeches. Just a quiet meeting with the divine.

Back in Mumbai, the week has been gentler for Jasprit Bumrah.

After the adrenaline of the World Cup, he chose stillness - time with his wife Sanjana and their son Angad. The couple even squeezed in a commercial shoot together, one that will surface during the IPL season, before Bumrah joins the Mumbai Indians camp.

For Ishan Kishan, the road led back to Patna.

Fresh from a tournament where he scored 317 runs - second only to Samson's 321 - Kishan stepped out onto the terrace of his home and waved to the fans gathered below. It was a small but heartfelt thank-you to the city that still claims him.

The week also brought quieter personal moments. Jaipur-based model Aditi Hundia, who had been spotted cheering him during the World Cup and celebrating alongside the team in Ahmedabad, spent time with him during the brief break.

If anyone embraced the romance of the trophy itself, it was Suryakumar Yadav.

The morning after the final, as the city of Ahmedabad slowly woke up from a night of celebrations, Surya carried the World Cup trophy to one of the city's ancient stepwells. There, in the fading evening light, he clicked photographs with it - cricket's newest prize against centuries-old stone.

A day later he was back in Mumbai, at his home in Chembur's Godrej Sky Terraces, where he shares two apartments with his parents. Much of his week was spent visiting neighbourhood temples, the pilgrimage ending at Mumbai's Siddhivinayak temple alongside coach Gautam Gambhir and ICC chairman Jay Shah.

Different journeys, same destination.

Because tonight the entire squad will converge again - this time in Delhi - at the BCCI's glittering Naman Awards ceremony.

A week ago they conquered the turf at the Narendra Modi Stadium, presented India the spectacle they had waited for after the 2023 miss.

Tonight, the World Cup winners come back together again.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Sanju Samson Axar Patel Abhishek Sharma Ishan Kishan T20 World Cup 2026 Cricket