Team India: 2007 Twenty20 World Champions

India revel in Twenty20 glory

The 15 member Indian Team

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Joginder Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Rohit Sharma.

Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire behind the Stanford 20/20, has offered a 2.5million prize to the winners of a one-off match between the world Twenty20 champions and his own invitation West Indies side, to be played next spring.

Meanwhile, Indian cricketer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth has bagged contracts from beverages maker, Pepsi and sports goods company, Nike. The multi-year contracts will take Sreesanths endorsement portfolio to four brands with an annual net worth of Rs 35-45 lakh a brand. Barring Sreesanth and Sehwag, all the members of the Indias Twenty20 World Cup winning squad endorse the Reebok brand in some form.
Yuvraj Singh has bagged a contract from Donear Suitings, taking his total endorsement to 10 brands with a annual net worth between Rs 1.25 and 1.40 crore a brand.

Its raining cash on Men in Blue

Along with the $2 million for Team India declared by BCCI President Sharad Pawar, many State governments have made rich promises to honour cricketers, who were part of Mondays unforgettable victory, hailing from their respective states. The T20 prize money of $490,000 has already swelled the players purses.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced a cash reward of Rs. 21 lakh for Joginder Sharma, India's final over hero. Pacer Rudra Pratap Singh would be conferred with the first Manyavar Kanshiramji International Sports Award, which carries a prize money of Rs. 10 lakh, by the Uttar Pradesh government.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda said he would present a surprise gift to the winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who will also be conferred the title of Jharkhand Ratna on November 15.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has announced that her Government would give cash award of Rs 5 lakh each to Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, while the Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has announced an award of Rs 5 lakh each for Venkatesh Prasad, the bowling coach of the team, and Robin Uthappa.
The President of Andhra Pradeshs Telangana Rashtriya Samiti has announced a rewards of Rs 1,16,000 each to Dhoni, Irfan Pathan and Gautam Gambhir.

Himachal Pradesh, who does not have any representative in the team, was also not behind. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has congratulated the Indian cricket team for winning the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup and offered a weeks free stay to all the members of the team in any of the HP Tourism Development Corporation hotels in the state.

1983 World Cup winning opening batsman Krishnamachari Srikkanth, who was the top scorer for India then, has in the past said that not even 5% of the various cash and other awards promised way back in 1983 was given. "We would have been millionaires if.."

Bonanza awaits Team India

The Indian Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, announced today that the 15 member Indian cricket team will get free tickets to tour the world along with their family. He also announced that the six Air India employees captain M.S. Dhoni, vice-captain Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, R.P. Singh and Harbhajan Singh, will get out of turn promotions. Sreesanth's contract expired a few days before the start of series and he will not be eligible.

Sahara India Parivar, the main sponsor of the cricket team, announced that it would gift a house worth about Rs 25 lakhs to each of the 15 players from across 217 locations across the country where the company has real-estate projects.

The Maharashtra government 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 Shastris Audi in 1987.

Victory parade for Indian team

The BCCI has arranged for a 25-km victory parade from the Shiv Chhatrapathi Shivaji International Airport to the Wankhede Stadium when Mahendra Singh Dhonis triumphant Indian team arrives in Mumbai at 8.15 on Wednesday morning.
The team will be received at the airport by Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his deputy and Home Minister R.R. Patil. The team will be felicitated at the Wankhede Stadium at 10.30 a.m. According to BCCI, the Wankhede Stadium will be thrown open to the public on a first-come-first-served basis for the felicitation function.

Similar celebrations were organised only twice before in Mumbais 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.

Flashback.. Fans damage Dhoni's house in Ranchi March 18, 2007 Cricket fans, angry over the Indian team's loss Saturday to minnows Bangladesh in the World Cup, Sunday damaged wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni's under-construction house in Ranchi. Around two hundred fans under the banner of the Jharkhand Yuva Morcha (JYM) attacked the house in the Harmu housing colony. JYM is the youth wing of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which is part of Jharkhand's ruling alliance. The house was being built on 4,000 square feet of land, costing around Rs.5 million, gifted to the dashing player by former Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda. The angry protesters burnt an effigy of the dashing player and shouted slogans 'Dhoni Murdabad' and demanded that the land gifted to him be taken back. Police have meanwhile provided security at the Dhoni family's home in the Mecon housing colony.

India T20 Champions

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