The three-match ODI series between India and West Indies came to an end on Tuesday (August 1), with the former thrashing the latter by 200 runs to clinch the series 2-1.
The Men in Blue outplayed the hosts in the series-decider in Trinidad. Asked to bat first, the visitors racked up a mammoth 351/5 on the board and then bundled out the Caribbean team for a paltry 151 in 35.3 overs.
India openers Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan laid the foundation for the victory with a 143-run partnership for the opening wicket.
While Gill scored 85 in 92 balls and won the Player-of-the-Match award, Kishan slammed 64-ball 77 and earned the Player-of-the-Series honour as it was his third successive half-century in the 50-over series.
After the game, Gill and Kishan interacted with the legendary West Indies batter Brian Lara, who is also known as the Prince of Trinidad.
Taking to micro-blogging site X, the BCCI shared a video of their meeting with Lara and captioned it as: “All ears when the ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????? speaks. ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? - @BrianLara in conversation with @ShubmanGill & @ishankishan51 at the Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad”.
The clip starts with Lara saying, "I am so happy to have these two young men Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill at the stadium or the academy in my name."
Gill said, "All my memories of him (Lara) is smashing the bowlers and taking on the bowlers whenever I used to see him."
Kishan said, "I was very excited once you (Lara) texted me on Instagram and I was actually in shock like how come you texted me, such a legend of this game texted me and I was very happy about it."
Lara then stated, "India is like a second home to me, so I'm looking at young promising cricketers in India, it's something that I have grown up doing and to just see these guys (Gill and Ishan) at the international stage here at the Brian Lara academy, I feel very very proud."
Kishan said West Indies players don't need to look elsewhere for help as they have a certain Brian Lara in their camp.
"I think hunger is the most important thing when it comes to this game. You want to perform well for the team, for yourself, for your family, especially having so many great players here in West Indies they can always interact with them, like you guys," said Kishan.
"They can come to you (Lara) and talk about it at this beautiful academy, they will get to learn a lot with your experience and everything, so these are little things that will help youngsters."
Gill said Lara's flamboyant batting inspired him a lot. "You used to be one of those people who used to go and straightaway, from ball one, you would take on the bowlers and take on the challenge, and that really inspired us as a kid, to be able to... how to dominate the game in all formats."
During the interaction, Kishan said, "I think for me the most important thing is like the stories I have heard, like you always used to bat till lunch and if you are there on the pitch you go to practice and then again come to bat. So that is something to learn from you."
"So performing here, where your name is there on the board, it was really special for me to perform here, and I love to watch highlights of your innings, how you used to do that (high backlift) and play shots," he added.
Gill also asked about the facility at the stadium. "I think it's a great facility, fantastic ground, I have played here actually in 2019 as well and scored a double hundred. So this ground has been good to me."
(With PTI Inputs)
