Thousands cheer Indian cricketers at Kotla

New Delhi:

Members of the senior and junior Indian cricket teams were felicitated at a ceremony at New Delhi's Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium, where thousands of cricket fans had gathered to give the cricketers a hero's welcome to India.

MS Dhoni's men who had won the CB Series in Brisbane on Tuesday, along with Virat Kohli and Pradeep Sangwan, members of the India U-19 team that had won the Youth World in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, were presented with rewards by the cricket board officials.

Dhoni's men received cheques of Rs 58 lakh each while members of the coaching and support staff got Rs 10 lakh each.

Kohli, who had captained India to the Youth World Cup win, along with his Delhi teammates Sangwan, Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma and Gautam Gambhir received Rs 2.5 lakh each from the Delhi and District Cricket Association.

The Indian team that had arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday morning were flown to Delhi. After a brief stay at a Delhi hotel in the noon, they were brought to the Kotla where thousands of fans had been waiting for the felicitation ceremony to begin.

The roads leading to the stadium were packed. The fans present at the venue were treated to dance and music by the organisers.

Dhoni, speaking at the function, said the win was credit to his team, which delivered under pressure and in difficult conditions. He also congratulated the junior team for winning the world title.

BCCI president Sharad Pawar, who was present here along with other senior board officials, said that cricket lovers in the country must accept winning and losing as part of the sport, and that they must support the team with equal warmth if the team loses.

The players looked tired, understandably so after having been through several ups and downs and uncountable controversies during the tour of Australia.

A section of the media had reported that the players had requested board officials to cancel a motorcade, which had been planned to take the players around central Delhi on Wednesday afternoon.