Indian cricket team returns home

Tight security arrangements were made at airports in Mumbai, national capital New Delhi and Bangalore, where the players and team officials arrived in separate batches.Sachin Tendulkar, Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan, alon gwith coach Greg Chappell, made a quiet entry to Mumbai.

Reports said the team was whisked away to a hotel amid tight security and will reach their respective homes today itself.

BCCI officials were also present at the airport to receive the cricketers and expressed their solidarity with the team at a stage when Indian cricket is at an all time low.

Opener Virender Sehwag and wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni were whisked away under tight security, over fears a backlash from angry fans.Pace bowler S Sreesanth arrived in his hometown Kochi looking extremely disappointed."No, I'm not really sad; it's just that I am unhappy because we couldn't make it. My dream was to salute the Indian flag on the finals in Barbados, and it could not happen. Obviously, it was a team effort. And it's not an individual game. So, I think everyone has played. There's nothing much to say," he said.

Captain Rahul Dravid and veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble looked sombre as they arrived in Bangalore. Both of them avoided the media and slipped away as fast as they could.

Meanwhile, protestors tore up posters of the Indian cricket team in Ranchi, visibly upset over their hero Dhoni's dismal performance at the World Cup."Slippers, rotten tomatoes and potatoes... everything would be thrown on him. If he comes to the airport, the people of Ranchi will throw stones at him."

The 1983 winners crashed out in the first round of the event in the Caribbean last week after losing two of their three Group D matches, to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.Several former players and irate fans in cricket-crazy India then called for the axing Dravid and coach Chappell.

Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has urged the Indian fans to accept the loss in a sporting manner. (ANI)

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