India's T20 World Cup winners returned home to a heroes' welcome on Thursday with skipper Rohit Sharma and his players hailed by euphoric fans jostling to glimpse their stars.

Frenzied crowds shouted "India, India" after they landed in New Delhi from the Caribbean, having been delayed for days by Hurricane Beryl.

Whistles and wild cheers greeted the players as they walked out from the arrivals area with gold medals around their necks, some giving a thumbs-up to their fans.

"This is surreal, watching my team with the World Cup," emotional fan Rohit Khanna told AFP.

"I saw the 2011 triumph, but this is a moment I will never forget."

Despite monsoon rain, crowds gathered outside New Delhi's airport long before dawn, waiting for a glimpse of their idols, who had beaten South Africa on Saturday in a thrilling final in Barbados.

"It's home," India's cricket board said on social media.

It was vice-captain Hardik Pandya who emerged first wearing a Caribbean hat, and the crowd erupted when captain Rohit came out carrying the glittering trophy, which he hoisted into the air.

Star batsman Virat Kohli, whose hometown is Delhi, was given some of the loudest cheers as he waved to hundreds of fans.

"It's a dream for me to witness India return home from a World Cup," said a shirtless fan with a Kohli tattoo emblazoned on his chest.

The team are due to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Thursday, before flying to Mumbai for a victory parade in the heart of India's financial capital later in the day.

They eventually left the airport in buses, flanked by a long escort of police cars with wailing sirens.

Last weekend's win ended an 11-year global cricket trophy drought for India following their 2013 Champions Trophy win.

Their last World Cup victory was at home in the 2011 50-over edition under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

One fan held up a poster of coach Rahul Dravid. "Thank you, Mr Dependable", it read.

The final was the last match in charge for Dravid, 51, who was bounced in the air by the team during the post-match celebrations.

Rohit, Kohli and allrounder Ravindra Jadeja all announced their retirement from T20 international cricket after the final.

Plane tracking website, Flightradar24, said the special Air India charter had been the "most tracked flight for much of the last 15 hours", as excited fans followed their team's journey back from the Caribbean.

India will be out to end their global title drought while South Africa are seeking to bury their 'chokers' tag at Kensington Oval on Saturday when the tournament's two unbeaten sides clash in the Twenty20 World Cup final.

Their blemish-free campaigns and comprehensive victories in the semifinals leave no doubt that the 20-team tournament's best two sides have made the final in Bridgetown.

A day after South Africa stopped Afghanistan's fairytale run in the first semi in Trinidad, India ended England's title defence in Guyana to make the third consecutive final of a global event across all formats.

South Africa will play India in the #T20WorldCup final on Saturday 🇿🇦🆚🇮🇳#WozaNawe | #OutOfThisWorld pic.twitter.com/tfc8zg9QR6

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) June 27, 2024

Skipper Rohit Sharma will hope India, who lost in the finals of the World Test Championship and the 50-overs home World Cup last year, will make it third time lucky.

Both Rohit, 37, and stalwart Virat Kohli, 35, are playing what could be their last T20 World Cup, and winning the trophy would be a perfect farewell for them.

They appear to have both the game plan and personnel to do just that.

BELIEVE 💪🏆🇮🇳 @BCCI pic.twitter.com/yEReghuBKC

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) June 27, 2024

At the top of the order, Rohit personifies India's batting philosophy, which values a string of attacking cameos more than one match-winning knock from any one batter.

Their three-pronged spin attack has served them well in the second half of the tournament, while pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been almost unplayable so far.

Rohit believes a calm dressing room has been key to India's strong run.

"We do understand the occasion but for us it's important to keep calm and composed," he said.

"That helps us make good decisions. We need to make good decisions through the 40 overs."

Kohli's struggles for runs appear to be India's only worry heading into the final but Rohit has no concerns about the form of his opening partner.

"We understand his class. When you have played for 15 years, form is never a problem," he said.

"He's probably saving it for the final."

CHOKERS NO MORE?

It will be a test of nerves for their opponents as well as South Africa look to shed their baggage from having reached their first World Cup final in any format after seven semifinal heartbreaks.

Their pace attack has been on the money, bailing them out whenever their batters failed.

Opener Quinton de Kock has used his Caribbean Premier League experience to good use, while there is significant firepower in their middle order.

In Aiden Markram, South Africa also have a composed leader who has gone 10 matches unbeaten as captain.

"It's a personal and individual motivation that you get to a final, to earn the opportunity to hopefully lift the trophy," Markram said.

"We feel and we believe that we can compete with the best in the world and we can win trophies. And it's nice for us to now have that opportunity ..."

WE ARE BUILT DIFFERENT 🇿🇦🙌 #T20WorldCup #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/e6B46okSrU

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) June 28, 2024

England will hope a change of format leads to a change of result when they look to take a giant stride towards the semifinals of the T20 World Cup against South Africa on Friday following a thumping loss the last time they played the Proteas.

That Mumbai encounter, seven months ago, was perhaps the lowest point of England's woeful defence of their 50-over World Cup title.

Following captain Jos Buttler's extraordinary decision to field first in oppressive heat, England conceded their largest one-day international total of 399 and suffered a colossal 229-run defeat – their biggest reverse by runs in the history of the format.

That was one of six losses in nine games for England as they failed to reach the knockout stage in India.

But it appears Buttler's men are making a better defence of their T20 World Cup crown, with England overpowering co-hosts the West Indies by eight wickets in St. Lucia on Wednesday.

In chasing down a target of 181 with 15 balls to spare, England emerged with a superior net run-rate to that managed by South Africa in an unexpectedly tense 18-run win over the United States.

Another win for England in St. Lucia against the Proteas would all but guarantee a semifinal place.

Several of the players that featured for both England and South Africa in India will be involved again on Friday.

But England opener Phil Salt, who made a blistering unbeaten 87 against the West Indies, and in-form fast bowler Jofra Archer had no part in that dire defeat in October.

This tournament has marked Archer's return to international duty after a lengthy injury absence, with the Barbados-born quick in the air when England were being walloped at the Wankhede Stadium.

"Honestly, I didn't get to watch that one as I was heading back to the UK. I know it wasn't a great tournament for the boys but we have put it past us," Archer told a pre-match press conference on Thursday.

"We've just won what is probably going to be one of the toughest games of the tournament...It's a tough group and South Africa is the same challenge as any other team, one to six is packed with batters, so it doesn't really change.

"We just need to come up with another plan that works."

'NAIL IT'

Archer certainly had one of those while bowling a remarkable 16th over to West Indies' dangerman Nicholas Pooran, the leading run-scorer in the tournament.

He did not concede a run off five of his six balls and also dismissed Pooran.

By contrast, Salt hammered Romario Shepherd for 30 in the same over of England's innings.

"It was everything that we talked about in the bowling meetings, just one of the times you nail it," said Archer. "I'm really glad that over was probably the turning point."

England now face another big-hitter in Heinrich Klaasen, whose brutal hundred was the cornerstone of South Africa's victory in Mumbai.

"We're looking forward to finding our swings again and hopefully we can cash in against England," said Klaasen.

"But they're extremely dangerous side. They've got a lot of match-winners so we need to be aware of that and play our big moments better than they do.

"Hopefully we can continue our trend of playing good cricket under pressure and it will be fantastic if we can go two out of two and close a semifinal spot for ourselves."

Jasprit Bumrah demonstrated yet again how crucial he is to India's fortunes in the T20 World Cup on Thursday, and captain Rohit Sharma said he will need to manage his pace spearhead smartly to get the best out of him.

Bumrah conceded only seven runs in his four overs and claimed three wickets to help India begin their Super Eight stage campaign with a resounding victory over Afghanistan.

Bumrah struck twice in the powerplay overs to effectively derail Afghanistan's chase after India had posted 181-8 at the Kensington Oval.

The wickets included Afghanistan's leading scorer in the tournament Rahmanullah Gurbaz, deceiving the opener with a change of pace.

The seamer with a slingy action then returned to remove Najibullah Zadran and effectively seal the match in India's favour.

Jasprit Bumrah strikes once again! 🙌

He scalps his third wicket of the match to remove Najibullah Zadran

Follow The Match ▶️ https://t.co/xtWkPFabs5#T20WorldCup | #TeamIndia | #AFGvIND | @Jaspritbumrah93 pic.twitter.com/v58TRbOhJW

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 20, 2024

"We know Bumrah's class and what he can do," Rohit said as his team remained unbeaten in the tournament.

"It is important for us to use him smartly.

"He is the one who is ready to take the responsibility (of leading the attack)."

India dropped seamer Mohammed Siraj and picked Kuldeep Yadav in a three-pronged spin attack.

Rohit said the 2007 champions, who face Bangladesh in their next Group I match on Saturday, would be flexible with their bowling combinations.

"We have to assess conditions, opposition and based on that we're open to making changes if required," he said.

"We felt three spinners were good here. If it's seamer-friendly next time, we'll go with (three) seamers."

His counterpart Rashid Khan said Afghanistan should be prepared to chase such bigger scores in the Super Eight stage.

"That was a surface we thought we could chase 170-180," the allrounder said.

"Against bigger teams, we should be thinking we will have to chase such scores."

Reece Topley assumed new ball duties on his return to the England side after missing the first two group matches at the T20 World Cup but the left-arm seamer says he can also be a strong death-bowling option for the defending champions.

The towering seamer opened the bowling against both Oman and Namibia as England made the Super Eight stage of the tournament.

Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan are England's preferred bowlers in the final overs of an innings but Topley also relishes bowling at a stage when batters throw caution to the wind.

"It's nothing new, I've done it in an England shirt before," he told reporters ahead of Wednesday's Group 1 game against tournament co-hosts West Indies.

"I actually really enjoy it because it's kind of like the time where you get your rewards for bowling well up top and keeping it tight.

"It's the time when wickets fall. So it's quite exciting in that respect and I don't think there's anything to be feared."

Apart from regular yorkers, Topley's armoury includes a back-of-the-hand slower delivery and wide yorkers – all of which can come in handy in the final overs.

The 30-year-old did not think death-overs bowling required a different mindset.

"If you bowl well at the death, you get rewards. If you don't bowl well, you get hit.

"I don't think it differs to any sort of stage in the game to be honest."

"It's just delivering a skill down the other end, so it doesn't really change too much."

Topley said he was disappointed having to warm the bench initially but attributed it to the depth of England's pace talent, which includes Mark Wood.

"I was disappointed but I'm sure each game there's been four disappointed players.

"I think we're blessed to the point that we're trying to fit too many players into an 11."