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Team India have commenced their preparations for the upcoming two-match Test series against the West Indies. The side recently held a practice session at the Kensington Oval.
During India's training, Rohit Sharma and his team were joined by a special visitor, Sir Garfield Sobers. Along with the captain, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rhanae, Rahul Dravid, Shubman Gill, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Shardul Thakur were spotted meeting the icon and having a chat with him.
Notably, Dravid remarked that Gill was one of India's most exciting young batters while introducing the opener to Sobers. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a short video on social media on Wednesday, July 5, giving fans a glimpse of the meeting.
The BCCI captioned the post:
"In Barbados & in the company of greatness! 🫡 🫡 #TeamIndia meet one of the greatest of the game - Sir Garfield Sobers 🙌 🙌."
It is worth mentioning that Sobers is considered one of the finest all-rounders to have played the game by many. The 86-year-old even has a pavilion named after him at Kensington Oval.
"Truly blessed"- Ravichandran Ashwin on his meeting with Sir Garfield Sobers
Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his delight following his interaction with Sir Garfield Sobers. Taking to his Instagram handle, he shared a heartfelt post after the meeting.
Ashwin also mentioned that the venues in West Indies make him nostalgic, making him remember the matches he watched while growing up. Captioning the post, he wrote:
"With the great man. 'Sir Gary Sobers'. These venues in the Carribean bring back memories of all those Indian tours I tuned into in the 90’s and early 2000’s. I met Sir Viv at Antigua last time and this time I had the honour of meeting Sir Gary at his own back yard 'The Kensington oval'. Truly blessed 🤩🤩🙏."
The Test series opener between India and the West Indies is scheduled to be played at Windsor Park in Roseau from July 12 onwards.
India's squad for the West Indies tour
Test: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, and Navdeep Saini.
ODI: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Shardul Thakur, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, and Mukesh Kumar.
