“He asked about Akash Deep’s sister’s illness…”: BCCI VP Shukla on King Charles III’s meet with Indian teams

London [UK], July 15 (ANI): Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice President Rajeev Shukla expressed happiness at Team India, both men’s and women’s meeting with King Charles III, saying that the King “had done his homework" and asked players about very little details, even going own to ask about pacer Akash Deep’s elder sister’s battle with cancer.

King Charles III met the Indian men’s and women’s cricket teams at St. James’s Palace in London on Tuesday. India captains Shubman Gill and Harmanpreet Kaur, along with team members and coaching staff, were present during the interaction.

Speaking to ANI, Shukla said, “It was a very historic occasion that both our men’s and women’s teams were invited today by King Charles and met them very well in the Palace. Players are very happy because he asked all personal details of each player. He asked Saikia ji (BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia) and me about whether Arun Jaitley is my friend, what happened to him, and when I told him that he had died, he asked me to pay condolences to his family. He also asked about Akash Deep’s sister’s illness."

“He had found out so many details. He sounded like a gentleman, and it did not seem we were talking to the King of England. There is a lot of humility in him and team is very happy to meet him," he added.

Shukla revealed that King Charles also talked about the third Test at Lord’s and termed Mohammed Siraj’s dismissal as an “unfortunate" one, as the ball rolled back to the stumps once it landed on the pitch after Siraj had middled it perfectly. This ended India’s lower-order resistance while chasing 193, leaving them 22 runs short.

“Even he noticed this fact. If we had another regular batter on the field, then we could have won easily. Our team has proven that our experiment is well done (to send a young team), as part of which we have sent a new team because we are looking forward to the future. The team has proven itself to be a fighter unit. We almost won here. We did well at Leeds. Our team is competing with England equally and will win the series as two matches are since left," he added.

Shukla also said that young skipper Shubman Gill has proven himself as a captain despite questions around his place in the team before the tour, owing to his past poor performances in overseas matches.

“He has also proven himself with the bat. A century, then a double century and a century, what could be better than this?" added BCCI VP.

Speaking on the absence of legendary players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the squad, who announced their Test retirements before the series, Shukla said that while their presence is being missed, it was their personal decision, and the BCCI does not force anyone to retire from any format.

“They have retired themselves. We will always miss them, they are both great batsmen and the good thing for us is that they are available for ODIs," he concluded.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice President Rajiv Shukla and India’s High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, were also present during the meeting. India’s men’s team is on a tour of England for the ongoing five-match Test series. Meanwhile, the women’s team sealed a historic 3-2 T20I series win over England and will square off in the three ODIs, which will kick off on Wednesday in Southampton.

During his brief interaction with Gill, King Charles discussed the final moments of the third Test against England, which ended in a bitter 22-run defeat for India. He specifically pointed out the way Shoaib Bashir’s ball spun back into the stumps, which got Mohammed Siraj bowled. Gill simply replied, “It’s a game of cricket."

Charles also held a conversation with vice-captain Rishabh Pant and world best Jasprit Bumrah, during which they shared a warm moment of laughter. King Charles then met the rest of the Indian contingent, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, head coach Gautam Gambhir and others. After meeting the men’s team, King Charles proceeded to meet the Indian women’s team and had a brief conversation with a few players.

Before meeting King Charles, the Indian team also met British actor and musician Idris Elba. During his brief interaction with Gill, Bumrah and Pant, the Heads of State lead star said, “I’d say I’m a fan, but I don’t follow cricket as well as I should. I was just a little bowler, that’s all." He then went on to interact with the Indian women’s team.

After the photoshoot, King Charles spoke with India quick Prasidh Krishna and batter Karun Nair. He also met uncapped left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh.

Gill shared his experience of meeting King Charles and told reporters, “It was amazing. I think he was very kind and generous to be able to call us here, and it was a pleasure meeting the king, and we had some really good conversations."

He went on to spill the beans about the conversation about the final moments of the third Test he had with King Charles and said, “Yes, he did tell us that the way our last batsman got out was quite unfortunate. The ball was rolling on the stumps, and he was just asking us how we felt after that, and we told him it was an unfortunate match for us. It could have gone either way, but hopefully we will have better luck in the next games."

Harmanpreet shared her experience and told reporters, “Uh, it was a very nice experience. Uh, we came to England so many times, but this was our first time when we met him, and he was very friendly. He asked us, like, how the travel was and all, and, um, it was really nice to meet him."

“Definitely, we have been playing good cricket, and I think with that we are getting a lot of opportunity to express ourselves, so really happy the way things are moving on," she added.

India women’s team head coach Amol Muzumdar expressed his delight and said, “It has been a very humbling experience coming here to the royal house and meeting the king. It’s been the first time, so we came all the way from Southampton, but it was really worth it, and the girls were really excited about this visit, and we are pleased that we are here." (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

Sports