Video: Indian cricketers meet Garry Sobers; Dravid’s introduction of Gill wins internet
India captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and his teammates met the legendary West Indies cricketer Sri Garfield Sobers (Garry Sobers) in Barbados and the video of their meeting has gone viral on social media.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Wednesday (July 5), shared a short clip of the meeting between the Indian cricketers, 86-year-old Sobers and his wife.
“In Barbados & in the company of greatness! #TeamIndia meet one of the greatest of the game – Sir Garfield Sobers,” the Indian cricket board captioned the tweet.
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In the 55-second video, at first, Rohit shakes hands with Sobers, next to the Garfield Sobers Pavilion at the Kensington Oval ground, Bridgetown, Barbados. Rohit is heard saying, “Nice to meet you, sir.”
Then, Ajinkya Rahane is introduced to Sobers by India coach Rahul Dravid. Later, Kohli chats with Sobers and share a laugh over something.
As the Indian players greet and talk to Sobers one by one, Dravid is seen introducing Shubman Gill as “one of our most young exciting batsmen”. To this, Sobers replied with “Oh”. Sobers then introduces his wife to Gill.
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Arguably the greatest all-rounder in the history of cricket, left-handed Sobers played 93 Tests for West Indies and scored 8,032 runs at an average of 57.78 with 26 centuries. He also took 235 wickets. He was the first batsman to hit six sixes in an over.
In 1958, Sobers registered the highest Test score of 365 not out against Pakistan. The record stood for 36 years until fellow West Indian Brian Lara surpassed it in 1994 as he scored 375 against England.
India are on the Caribbean islands to play two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is. The tour starts on July 12 with the first Test in Roseau, Dominica.
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India’s squads for West Indies tour
Test: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
ODI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.
In Barbados & in the company of greatness! 🫡 🫡#TeamIndia meet one of the greatest of the game – Sir Garfield Sobers 🙌 🙌#WIvIND pic.twitter.com/f2u1sbtRmP
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 5, 2023