Barbados : Ahead of the two-match test series against host West Indies, the Indian team which is currently practising in Barbados met with the legendary cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers.
BCCI tweeted the video of the Indian players meeting the 86-year-old West Indian legend and his wife at the Kensington Oval. “In Barbados & in the company of greatness! #TeamIndia meet one of the greatest of the game – Sir Garfield Sobers,” BCCI wrote.
Indian batter Virat Kohli, captain Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin and head coach Rahul David were seen smiling and discussing with the all-time great.
In the year 2022, Virat Kohli was awarded Sir Garfield Sobers trophy while Ashwin had received Garfield Sobers Trophy for being named the ICC Cricketer of the Year as well as the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year in the year 2017. The former West Indian captain has scored 8032 runs in 93 matches with an average of 57.78. He has bagged 26 centuries and 30 fifities in his test career. A total of eight matches will be played in the series over a month. India will kick off the series with a two-match Test series, the first of which will be played from July 12 to 16 at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium, Dominica. The second Test match will be played from June 20 to June 24 at the Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad.
India are also scheduled to play five T20Is and the squad for the same will be announced later. After the Test series, there will be a two-day gap and the third day, India will square off with West Indies in a three-match ODI series. The ODI series will be important as it would help the Indian think tank assess where they stand in white-ball cricket ahead of the ODI World Cup, which will be held in India later this year. The first ODI will be played on July 27 at the Kensington Oval, Barbados while the second will be played at the same venue on July 29. The third and final game of the series will be played on August 1 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad.
After the ODI series, the two teams will lock horns for a five-match T20I series. The first match of that series will be played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad, on August 3. The second T20I will be played at the Guyana National Stadium, Guyana on August 6 while the will be hosted at the same stadium on August 8. The fourth and the fifth T20I fixtures will be played at the Broward County Stadium, Florida on August 12 and 13.
