LONDON: Ahead of India’s ICC World Test Championship final match against Australia, India’s High Commissioner to United Kingdom Vikram K Doraiswami said that the Indian cricket team is an institution that binds the country together and he recalled his meeting with skipper Rohit Sharma back in 2011.
India will take on Australia in the final of ICC World Test Championship from June 7 onwards at The Oval, London.
Vikram said to 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. This is the final of the WTC and we really came out to see them practise and we are really happy to see them.”
On skipper Rohit Sharma, Vikram said that he is a very “thoughtful individual”.
“The first time I had the good fortune to meet him 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. It is delightful to see how much he 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.”
Vikram said that the head coach Rahul Dravid has “transformed Indian cricket”.
“You correctly called him 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,” concluded Vikram.
Australia ended at the top of the WTC table with 11 wins, three losses, five draws in 19 matches whereas India ended at second position with 10 wins, five losses and three draws.
India’s squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).
Suryakumar Yadav, Mukesh Kumar and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been named as stand-by players for the high-stakes match.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
Standby players: Mitch Marsh, and Matthew Renshaw. (ANI)