Thousands of fans flooded the streets, driving past the iconic Wankhede stadium, chanting patriotic slogans of ‘Long live India’ from their cars and bikes. Despite India`s top rankings in T20s and ODIs and second place in Tests, their history of stumbling in ICC knockout stages persisted.

Last year, Rohit Sharma and Co. came excruciatingly close to clinching the ICC World Cup on home turf, only to succumb to Australia in a tense final at Ahmedabad`s grand Motera stadium. However, displaying remarkable composure, the team maintained their nerve in a tightly contested finale on Saturday, with pace bowler Hardik Pandya coolly defending 16 runs in the final over.