[Pictures] Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid meet Indian High Commissioner in UK ahead of WTC final

Team India captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid met Vikram Kumar Doraiswami, Indian High Commissioner of the United Kingdom (UK), in London on Sunday, June 4.

This came days before the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, scheduled to be played between India and Australia at the Oval in London from June 7 onwards.

The captain-coach duo opted to wear Team India’s brand-new kit during the high-profile interaction. In one of the pictures, Dravid could be seen smiling while giving his autographs on bats.

Doraiswami, an avid sports fan, expressed gratitude to Team India for the special visit and wished them well while shedding light on the significance of reaching the WTC final. The 53-year-old told ANI:

"For every Indian, the Indian cricket team is an institution that binds the whole nation together. We are all very proud of our team. We have invested them in every moment they are on the field. So, as a High Commission, we are proud of any team from our country.”

He continued:

“This is the final of the WTC and we really came out to see them practice and we are really happy to see them."

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“These were MSD’s boys” – Vikram Doraiswami on his first interaction with Rohit Sharma

Vikram Doraiswami also revealed his first interaction with Rohit Sharma and credited him for leading Team India. He said:

"The first time I had the good fortune to meet him [Rohit Sharma] was when he was a young player in 2011 when he had come to South Africa which is just before the World Cup we won later that year. These were MSD's (MS Dhoni) boys and he was a young player, Virat was a young player."

Doraiswami added:

"It is delightful to see how much he [Rohit] has matured as a captain. He is thoughtful. He is funny, he has great insight into the game and how to handle his fame. It is a matter of pride to see how cricket has shaped him and he has shaped Indian cricket."

The 53-year-old further hailed Dravid, citing the former Indian captain as a ‘legend.’

"You correctly called him [Rahul Dravid] a legend. I think there are very few in the world who watch cricket who will deny that. He is a legend as a human being, he is a legend as a cricketer and most of all his ability to be thoughtful and his ideas about the game are legendary. It is a great feeling to see them here.”

Both Dravid and Rohit will be now keen to end India's ICC title drought since the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Rohit Sharma, in particular, will be looking to deliver with the bat, having scored a ton (120 in Nagpur) against Australia during Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year. The right-hander, though, managed just 242 runs during the four-match series. The 36-year-old also returned with only 332 runs in 16 games for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2023.