India erupted in joyous celebrations on Saturday after its team beat Sri Lanka to win the cricket World Cup and give the country its biggest cricketing moment in 28 years.
Fireworks lit up the night sky and people came onto streets in Indian cities, distributing sweets soon after the team clinched the cup for the second time after its 1983 triumph.
The capacity crowd of 32,000 at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai waved Indian flags and broke into rapturous applause when the cricketers lifted the glittering World Cup trophy.
From villages to towns and metropolises, the cricket triumph overwhelmed Indians.
Crowds watching the match on giant screens in packed malls, restaurants, bars and multiplexes cheered and screamed slogans and danced to celebrate the victory.
National capital New Delhi and cities like Kolkata and Bangalore burst into carnival, as people trooped out of their homes and hugged each other. Others drove around landmarks blowing horns of their cars.
"In a country of 1.2 billion inhabitants where cricket is a religion, it doesn't get bigger than winning the World Cup," said Darshil Shah, a college student, celebrating the win near the stadium in southern Mumbai.
"Thousands of young people like us were not even born when India won the World Cup in 1983, so the feeling is exciting and special," he said.
All through the day, Indian cities were deserted with businesses and markets closed as hundreds of millions of Indians stayed glued to their televisions or transistor sets, cheering their team.
In eastern city of Kolkata, youth riding speeding motorbikes waved Indian flags after the win. The streets and roads transformed into instant party zones in northern Chandigarh where people danced to drumbeats and Bollywood numbers.
"Thank god its Sunday tomorrow, the party is not going to stop," a youngster near New Delhi's India Gate monument told the IANS news agency.
Fireworks lit up the night sky and people came onto streets in Indian cities, distributing sweets soon after the team clinched the cup for the second time after its 1983 triumph.
The capacity crowd of 32,000 at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai waved Indian flags and broke into rapturous applause when the cricketers lifted the glittering World Cup trophy.
From villages to towns and metropolises, the cricket triumph overwhelmed Indians.
Crowds watching the match on giant screens in packed malls, restaurants, bars and multiplexes cheered and screamed slogans and danced to celebrate the victory.
National capital New Delhi and cities like Kolkata and Bangalore burst into carnival, as people trooped out of their homes and hugged each other. Others drove around landmarks blowing horns of their cars.
"In a country of 1.2 billion inhabitants where cricket is a religion, it doesn't get bigger than winning the World Cup," said Darshil Shah, a college student, celebrating the win near the stadium in southern Mumbai.
"Thousands of young people like us were not even born when India won the World Cup in 1983, so the feeling is exciting and special," he said.
All through the day, Indian cities were deserted with businesses and markets closed as hundreds of millions of Indians stayed glued to their televisions or transistor sets, cheering their team.
In eastern city of Kolkata, youth riding speeding motorbikes waved Indian flags after the win. The streets and roads transformed into instant party zones in northern Chandigarh where people danced to drumbeats and Bollywood numbers.
"Thank god its Sunday tomorrow, the party is not going to stop," a youngster near New Delhi's India Gate monument told the IANS news agency.
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