[Watch] Team India obliges net bowlers with pictures, bats, shoes ahead of Test series vs WI
Team India cricketers interacted with local players in Barbados and presented them with gifts as they prepare for the upcoming series against the West Indies. The Men in Blue will play two Tests, three ODIs, and five T20Is against the Caribbeans, starting on July 12.
The Indian contingent has reached the Caribbean shores quite a few days and has been sweating out hard. They were joined by some local youngsters who bowled in the nets and also helped the touring side with fielding during the two-day warm-up match.
Moved by their gesture and hard work, Mohammed Siraj gifted a bat and a pair of shoes to two youngsters. Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan also shared some valuable advice while the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane posed for photographs.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared the heartwarming video on their social media handles.
"Kind gestures 👌 Autographs ✍️ Selfies 🤳 Dressing room meets 🤝 #TeamIndia make it special for the local players and fans in Barbados 🤗 #WIvIND," the BCCI captioned the post.
The upcoming series will be Rohit Sharma and Co.'s first assignment since their heartbreaking defeat in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia last month in London.
The two-match Test series will mark the beginning of India and West Indies' campaigns in the WTC 2023-25 cycle.
The three ODI, meanwhile, will give the management an opportunity to fine-tune their squads, while the five T20Is will be a great platform for the youngsters to make a mark.
India's squads for the West Indies series
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, and Navdeep Saini.
ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, and Mukesh Kumar.
T20I squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, and Mukesh Kumar.