T20 World Cup 2022: Men in Blue skipper Rohit Sharma gifts Team India's jersey to Governor of Victoria

On Friday, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team met the Governor of Victoria, Linda Dessau AC, and other dignitaries in Melbourne ahead of their T20 World Cup 2022 opener against Pakistan. Rohit was even seen gifting a Team India jersey to the Governor of Victoria.

India and Pakistan will meet in the marquee clash of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the MCG on Sunday. While rain has been forecast for the game, fans from both countries will be hoping that they get to witness some exciting action.

While the Indians have been practicing hard ahead of the mega clash, they also paid a visit to the Governor of Victoria. The BCCI’s official Twitter handle shared a picture of the entire Team India contingent posing with the governor and other dignitaries. The image was uploaded with the caption:

"The Honourable Linda Dessau AC, the Governor of Victoria (@VicGovernor) and other dignitaries met the Indian Cricket Team today ahead of the #T20WorldCup.”

Later, a Twitter user also shared an image of Governor of Victoria posing with the Indian jersey in hand. The user, while posting the picture, wrote:

“Indian Captain Rohit Sharma gifted team India's jersey to Governor of Victoria. Nice gesture from Rohit Sharma.”

Coming back to the on-field clash, India and Pakistan met twice during the Asia Cup. While the Indians won the group game by five wickets, the Men in Green emerged victorious in the Super 4 encounter by the same margin.

Pakistan also thumped India by 10 wickets during their T20 World Cup clash in Dubai last year.

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“We want to just keep ourselves relaxed” - Rohit Sharma on Pakistan challenge

Speaking about the mega clash against arch-rivals Pakistan a few days back, Indian captain Rohit admitted that it will be a big game but added that they want to stay focused and relaxed. He said in an interview on bcci.tv:

"Whenever we play Pakistan, it's always a blockbuster. People want to come out and watch and feel the atmosphere. More than anything else you want to enjoy the cricket. For us as players, of course, it is a big game. We are starting off our campaign. We want to just keep ourselves relaxed and focus on what we need to do as individuals because that is going to be key for us.”

"If individuals can keep themselves calm and composed during the game, we will get the result that we are looking for," the 35-year-old added.

Meanwhile, the Indian skipper was seen preparing specifically for the Shaheen Afridi challenge on Sunday. The Pakistan left-armer trapped the opener lbw for a golden duck in the T20 World Cup last year. Aware of the danger Afridi could pose to him, Rohit was intent on playing in the “V” during an intense practice session on Friday.