Thousands of fans have assembled at the Stadium braving heavy rains to witness the public felicitation of the Indian cricket team which won the Twenty20 World Cup on Monday. 

A makeshift stage has been erected at the lawns for the felicitation function which is being attended by top BCCI and Maharashtra government officials. 

All the former players from Mumbai have been invited by the organisers for the felicitation. 

The 1983 World Cup winning team led by Kapil Dev was also felicitated at South Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium itself. Dev's team had made a lap of the stadium during the function over 24 years ago. 

Earlier, the victorious Indian team arrived to a tumultuous welcome. Thousands of cricket fans braved rain and waited for their heroes outside the CSI airport. 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil, top brass of the Cricket Board, including president Sharad Pawar, vice presidents Lalit Modi and Rajeev Shukla, secretary Niranjan Shah and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar were present at the airport to receive the players. 

Thousands of fans have assembled at the Stadium braving heavy rains to witness the public felicitation of the Indian cricket team which won the Twenty20 World Cup on Monday. 

A makeshift stage has been erected at the lawns for the felicitation function which is being attended by top BCCI and Maharashtra government officials. 

All the former players from Mumbai have been invited by the organisers for the felicitation. 

The 1983 World Cup winning team led by Kapil Dev was also felicitated at South Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium itself. Dev's team had made a lap of the stadium during the function over 24 years ago. 

Earlier, the victorious Indian team arrived to a tumultuous welcome. Thousands of cricket fans braved rain and waited for their heroes outside the CSI airport. 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil, top brass of the Cricket Board, including president Sharad Pawar, vice presidents Lalit Modi and Rajeev Shukla, secretary Niranjan Shah and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar were present at the airport to receive the players. 

Tendulkar " The entire team played terrific and Dhoni did a fantastic job. It's all about playing together, it really doesn't matter who the captain is or who the coach is, but if the team is together, you can play some good cricket. We are world champions when all the eleven players in the team are performing.

I'm extremely happy and proud as an Indian that the team has been able to achieve this.It will be talked for years to come. I thought it was just spectacular. We are all celebrating here. We have opened a few bottles of champagne and sprayed it all over the house. It's a wonderful moment I celebrated with my friends here ".

Indian cricket board president Sharad Pawar, who watched the team beat Pakistan by five runs in the final at the New Wanderers Stadium, declared the bonus after Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team had won the thriller. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also announced a special Rs.10 million for Yuvraj Singh for becoming the first player to hit six sixes in Twenty20 international cricket.

Yuvraj had picked Stuart Broad of England for the special treatment in a Super Eight match.

BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi also announced that he would present an expensive car to Yuvraj as a personal gift.

The Indian cricket team awaits a jackpot and grand display of public adulation when they arrive in Mumbai on Wednesday morning with a World Cup cricket trophy in 24 years.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has organised a grand public felicitation for the victors in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium at 10.30 am.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men in blue will be received at Mumbai airport by BCCI president Sharad Pawar when they land from South Africa shortly after 8 am. From the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport’s international terminal at Sahar in suburban Andheri, the team members will be taken to Wankhede Stadium in an open bus. There will be a motorcade with police outriders and security personnel.

Waiting for the team will be politicians cutting across party lines and following past practice, the former captains of the Indian cricket team. According to BCCI, the Wankhede Stadium will be thrown open to the public on a first-come-first-served basis for the felicitation function.

Old timers recall that similar celebrations were organised only twice before in Mumbai’s history - in 1971, when the Indian cricket team under Ajit Wadekar snatched a historic Test series victory against England and in 1983, when Kapil Dev and his band of devils brought home the Prudential World Cup.

The Maharashtra government has decided to provide security and clear rush-hour traffic from the airport to the Wankhede Stadium as the organisers expect huge crowds to welcome the heroes. “Traffic will be diverted on the main road leading from the airport to town,” says a spokesman for the traffic police department.

At the Wankhede Stadium, a felicitation awaits the victors where huge amounts of cash is expected to be showered on them. The BCCI, which is facing a tough challenge from the Indian Cricket League started by Subhash Chandra of Zee Television, will open its coffers to the victors to shore up its own standing among the players as much as in celebration of the victory over arch rivals, Pakistan.

The Maharashtra government has joined in the celebrations. It has announced a cash award of Rs 10 lakh each for Ajit Agarkar and Rohit Sharma, the two star batsmen hailing from Mumbai.

Apart from the $ 490,000 prize money for their victory, Team India has been promised a whopping Rs 8 crore bonus from BCCI. Pawar is said to have announced the bonus after watching the nail-biting finish.

A special award of Rs 1 crore awaits Yuvraj who is the first player and as of now the only player in the Twenty20 International Cricket to hit six sixes in an over. In addition, he will also be gifted a Porsche 911 sports car. The BCCI will appeal to the union finance ministry to waive customs duty on the car, similar to the offer made for Ravi Shastri’s Audi in 1987.