We didn't expect that he'd be watching the match: Gill after Team India met King Charles in London

New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) India skipper Shubman Gill will sharing his experience of meeting King Charles III said that the team didn't expect that he would be watching the Lord's Test and added that he is grateful for the experience.

The Indian cricket teams, both men and women, met King Charles III at Clarence House in London on Tuesday. He interacted with players Like Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and other.

The reception at Clarence House represented a diplomatic gesture towards the visiting team, with King Charles III maintaining the tradition of welcoming Commonwealth cricket teams during their tours of England.

King Charles, who hosted the visitors in his capacity as Head of the Commonwealth, also mentioned to the Indian team that he saw the highlights of the third India vs England Test at Lord's, which the Gill-led side lost by just 22 runs, despite being eight down quite early on Day 5.

"He was so kind and so generous and had such lovely conversations with us. He seemed very kind and we did not expect that he would be watching the match, he said he watched bits and pieces of the last session that we played. It was a great experience; we were very grateful for the experience," Gill said in a video shared by BCCI on X.

When the Indian cricket teams, both men and women, met King Charles III at Clarence House, English actor and musician Idris Elba also stopped by to greet both the teams.

Elba who was in London for the Youth Opportunities Summit at St James’ Palace, stopped by to say hello to the Indian teams. "I saw you guys in the car and I was like, yo!" he said.

BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla and India's High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, were also present during the meeting. Shukla also presented his book 'Scars of 1947' to King Charles and said, "He took lot of interest in the content of the book."

"Britain's King Charles seemed like a very warm and cheerful person when he met all of us at his home. Before meeting, he had gathered quite a bit of information about each one of us, Shukla posted on X.

--IANS

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