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"It was a very busy day. The boys returned from the ground late and the celebrations continued in the bar of the hotel till early morning," said an elated team manager Dr Bimal Soni a couple of hours before the team was to board the 12.30 am (local time) flight for Mumbai.
Soni, and the rest of the team, were preparing themselves for the hectic schedule in India. The team will arrive in Mumbai at 10.30 am in the morning and then be flown on a chartered plane to Delhi where a massive reception will take place at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground between 3 and 6 pm.
The day after the historic ODI tri-series triumph was an extremely hectic one for the champions, by all accounts.
"It's been really busy. After we retired to our rooms last night, there was this flight in the afternoon for Melbourne and before the day is out, we would be on plane for back home," stated Dr Soni.
By the look of it, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's wish for a quiet few days with his family would remain just that - a wish.
"I haven't driven a bike for a long time," Dhoni said after he had secured the second straight win for his side in the CB series finals in Brisbane on Tuesday night.
"If the series had gone to the last game, we would've boarded the flight on 9 and hardly got time for ourselves. We need some rest, either you take a break or God gives you the break," he quipped.
A swooning nation though is unlikely to provide the cricket stars with some private moments as more and more gushing cricket experts join in to praise the team's achievements.
"I have no doubt, this is the biggest Indian one-day triumph since 1985," stated former Indian captain Ravi Shastri as he boarded the flight for back home.
"The 1983 World Cup and the 1985 Benson and Hedges series in Australia and then is this present one," he added.
The BCCI should understand that the players have been away for 3 months and have gone through a lot. Rest is what they need more than these idiotic celebrations! I am sure the players would agree too! As it is they would be back on the ground in a short while for the SA series and the IPL that follows and all this in the Indian summer. God.. give the team the strength to go through all this and survive!
Must admit we go over the top in our celebrations. We only won the series in Australia, not the World Cup! Granted we beat the strong Aussies but does it deserve the over the top celebrations and showering of wealth that is on offer?Surely we can restrain ourselves a bit! Does any one care about keeping these youngsters focused on cricket?Will not all this adulation and sudden wealth affect their impressionable minds?To see their poor cousins in other sports get practically nothing seems so unfair!Our cricketers should consider themselves lucky that their skills alone are being recognised!BCCI, the corporate honchos and the swooning public should pull back a bit and allow these cricketers to develop and not distract them!
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