London: The Indian team got an opportunity to spend some time with former players at a charity event here on Tuesday night, where they got a taste of the growing buzz around them after the dominating win at Edgbaston. The event saw stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Shastri, Brian Lara, Ashish Nehra, Chris Gayle and Kevin Pietersen heap praise on the Indian team’s turnaround in the series. For most of the evening, Yuvraj Singh, who has been one of Shubman Gill’s early mentors, emphasised the role of chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir for the promising performances by the Indian players. “Agarkar and Gautam don’t get enough credit when the team does well. They get criticized when the team loses. Since Agarkar has come in as chief selector, India have played the final of the ODI World Cup, won the T20 World Cup, won the Champions Trophy and now they have created history at Edgbaston. Both of them are doing great work,” Yuvraj said at the gala dinner organized to raise funds for cancer treatment through the YOUWECAN foundation. Yuvraj also said that both Gill and Rishabh Pant are doing great work with the team. He has seen Gill from a very young age. “I have seen Gill’s growth. He was always the hardest worker in a team. He has taken the responsibility of Test captaincy head on and he is the perfect man for the job.
I must say Rishabh has been fantastic because of the way he has come back from the accident and is now part of this leadership group,” he added.Kohli says age is catching upVirat Kohli arrived after the Indian team had left the venue. He candidly highlighted how he is ageing fast and that is that prompted him to take a call on his career. “I have to dye my beard every second day. Once that starts happening, you know it’s time,” he smiled. “It was great to watch the Indian team win the Edgbaston Test. Nothing beats doing well in Test cricket.” Shastri chose to credit Kohli for India’s aggressive attitude in the ongoing Test series. “If this young team is playing the cricket that we are seeing, it’s because of Virat. He has been the best ambassador for Test cricket in the last decade. He is the reason why India is competing hard in Test cricket,” Shastri said.
