India enjoy ‘epic crossover' with visit to Man Utd
The Red Devils opened pre-season with a 0-0 draw against Leeds on Saturday in Stockholm and welcomed some special guests to the training ground the following morning.
India are in town ahead of the key fourth Test against England getting under way at Emirates Old Trafford on Wednesday, with their players and staff mixing with United counterparts at Carrington.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India called it 'an epic crossover' in a post on X, which showed their team and the hosts mingling in one another's shirts with personalised names.
India captain Shubman Gill said: 'It's very exciting to be able to meet top athletes in the world from another sport, to get to know their stories is very inspiring.
'You're playing two different sports, but the mindset that you play with is most of the times very similar.'
Gill spoke with United skipper Bruno Fernandes about their respective roles, while head coach Gautam Gambhir chatted to counterpart Ruben Amorim.
'It was a nice interaction – what his ideology is towards team sport and what my ideology is towards team sport,' Gambhir said.
'The basic foundation of a team sport is very similar, where I feel that I think it's the players that adapt to what the team needs rather than the team that adapts to a certain individual.
'That is the culture which we want to build.'
Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav seemed to particularly enjoy the experience and picked Amorim's brains about his approach for the new season.
'I was looking forward to talking to Ruben,' he said. 'I've been following him from Sporting.
'I asked him few questions about the tactics, whether they're going to stick with the 3-4-3 this season.
'I had a chance to chat to Casemiro about how I admire him as a player and, yeah, it was very nice.'
Yadav later posted a picture of him with the Portuguese on X with the caption: 'Sharing football knowledge with the man who's redefining the game.'
India arrive in Manchester trailing England 2-1 in the five-Test series, while United head to the United States for their pre-season tour on Tuesday.
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