The High Commissioner of India, Mr. Vikram Doraiswami, in London met with Team India coach Rahul Dravid and coach Rohit Sharma ahead of the World Test Championship final at The Oval. Doraiswami seemed to have had a detailed and friendly interactions with the two stalwarts of Indian cricket, with the other delegates also joining in.
Following the interactions at the stands, Dravid and Rohit also signed some bats for the fans and clicked photos with them at the stadium. Rohit Sharma and co. will be aware of the challenge ahead of them, as Australia presents a formidable challenge, regardless of where they play. Having lost the 2019-21 WTC final to New Zealand, India will be keen to capture it.
Nevertheless, India secured a commanding 157-run win the last time they played at the venue, beating England. It was only their second win at the venue from 14 Tests as it came on the back of Rohit Sharma's 127 in the second innings.
Rahul Dravid wary of David Warner's threat in the WTC final:
Despite Warner's diminishing returns in red-ball cricket, the former Indian captain said it won't be easy to get his wicket, labeling him a world-class player, evident by his 100 Test caps. He spoke in a press conference at The Oval on Monday.
"He is a class player and it's not as simple as just turning up and bowling around the wicket and getting him out. He wouldn't have played 100 Test matches if it was that simple. He's a very good player. He's going to still be able to execute from over and around the wicket. We will have looked at videos and seen what other teams have done and the lines they've bowled to him...everyone does that sort of thing. There's not very much that's there to hide anymore because of data and video analysis."
Warner was in decent form in IPL 2023, scoring over 516 runs in 14 matches.
