NEW DELHI: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice President Rajeev Shukla expressed his happiness after both the Indian men’s and women’s cricket teams met King Charles III, saying the monarch “had done his homework” and even enquired about personal details of the players — including pacer Akash Deep’s sister’s battle with cancer.King Charles III hosted the two Indian teams at St. James’s Palace in London on Tuesday. Present at the event were India men’s captain Shubman Gill, women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur, team members, and coaching staff.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 further revealed that King Charles also discussed the thrilling third Test at Lord’s, calling Mohammed Siraj’s dismissal “unfortunate,” as the ball spun back onto the stumps after being middled. That moment ended India’s late resistance in their chase of 193, resulting in a 22-run loss.
“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.Commenting on Shubman Gill’s leadership, Shukla praised the young captain for answering critics with both leadership and runs.“He has also proven himself with the bat. A century, then a double century and a century, what could be better than this?” added the BCCI Vice President.On the absence of senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who retired from Tests before the series, Shukla said their decision was personal and respected by the board.“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.Also present at the gathering were BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla and India’s High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami. While the men’s team is currently engaged in the five-Test series in England, the women’s team recently clinched a historic 3-2 T20I series win and will now play three ODIs starting Wednesday in Southampton.During the meeting, King Charles had a brief chat with Shubman Gill, where the two discussed the dramatic ending of the third Test. Referring to Siraj’s dismissal, the King remarked on the misfortune of the ball rolling back to hit the stumps. Gill responded, “It’s a game of cricket.”
Charles also shared a light-hearted moment with vice-captain Rishabh Pant and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, laughing together during their conversation. He later interacted with the rest of the squad, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and head coach Gautam Gambhir. Following that, he spent time with the Indian women’s team as well.Before meeting the King, the Indian contingent also had an informal interaction with British actor and musician Idris Elba. Speaking with Gill, Bumrah, and Pant, Elba 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 later also spoke to members of the women’s team.After the group photos, King Charles also spoke with India quick Prasidh Krishna and batter Karun Nair, and met uncapped left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh.Gill described the experience of meeting King Charles as a memorable one: “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 also spoke about the King’s reference to the dramatic final moments of the Lord’s Test: “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 Kaur also shared her thoughts, saying, “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.Women’s team head coach Amol Muzumdar also reflected on the moment, saying, “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.”
