Picture Credit: Twitter
The Indian cricket team had a very disappointing and unexpected ending to the last World Test Championship 2023. However, forgetting the 2021-2023 WTC Cycle as a nightmare, the squad has pulled up their socks for the forthcoming West Indies Tour and are hopeful of beginning the 2023-2025 WTC Cycle on a winning note. The Rohit Sharma-led squad is in Barbados right now, training hard for the two-Test match series from July 12, Wednesday. Ahead of the game, the Indian squad met the former West Indies great Sir Garfield Sobers, and what caught everyone’s attention is how the coach, Rahul Dravid, introduced Shubman Gill to the legend.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a short clip of Team India’s meeting with Sir Sobers, that began with the skipper Rohit Sharma shaking hands with him. Next in line were Ajinkya Rahane and former India captain Virat Kohli who shared a light moment with Sobers. And just when everyone thought things couldn’t get better, Indian coach Rahul Dravid introduced promising star batter Shubman Gill to Sobers as a ‘dynamic batsman’.
Watch the video here:
Introducing the young emerging star of the Indian Cricket Team, Dravid said, “Shubman Gill, one of our most young exciting batsmen.” Next up were Shardul Thakur and Ravichandran Ashwin, who said "Hello sir, how are you?" The video was captioned, “In Barbados & in the company of greatness! #TeamIndia meet one of the greatest of the game - Sir Garfield Sobers”. It concluded with Rahul Dravid chatting with Sobers and his wife.
Notably, Sobers represented West Indies for two decades, 1954 to 1974, having made his debut at the age of 17 as a bowler but later excelled as a batter. Having played 93 Tests, Sobers scored 8032 runs for his side averaging 57.78 and picked 235 wickets. In 1975, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Sobers the Knighthood and was inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame in 2009. Sobers won the Wisden Cricketer of the Year award in 1964 and in 2000, the 86-year-old former cricketer was named as the Cricketer of the Century.
