The King has hailed the “exciting” cricket Test match decided by a last-gasp moment of sporting brilliance from England to beat India.
Charles sympathised with the Indian team when he hosted them at his Clarence House home the day after the third Test produced a nail-biting finish.
Lord’s, the home of cricket, was the setting for the dramatic result on Monday afternoon – with five days of play decided during the final session as the tourists chased 193 runs to win.
The home side needed the final wicket to win, while the visitors were 23 runs from victory when England spinner Shoaib Bashir, playing with a suspected broken finger, bowled to Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj.
As the batsman defended the delivery, it bounced off his bat and the ball’s spin took it backwards into the stumps and he was bowled.
The King told the Indian captain Shubman Gill he had watched the crucial last wicket fall on the news highlights on Monday night.
He said in sympathy, about the dramatic spin on the ball that dismissed Siraj, “really annoying just to touch the bails”.
And he later told another group of players “it was very exciting to watch”.
The Indian captain said later about his conversation with the King: “He did tell us that the way our last batsman got out was quite unfortunate – the ball rolling on the stumps, and he was just asking us how did we feel after that.
“And we told him it was an unfortunate match for us, but it could have gone either way and hopefully we’ll have better luck in both the next games.”
India’s men’s team were joined by the women’s cricket squad, who have also been playing matches in England recently – and a number of Indian diplomats and senior Indian executives from world cricket.
Vikram Doraiswami, India’s High Commissioner to the UK, introduced the men with the words “cricket is our religion and these are our deities”.
Before the King arrived, actor Idris Elba, who was due to meet the King at a following Youth Opportunity Summit event at nearby St James’s Palace, walked into the Clarence House gardens where the sportsmen and women had gathered.
He told the Indian cricket captain: “I don’t know cricket as well as I should but I play a bit.”
Charles posed for a large group photograph for with the men’s and women’s teams and squad officials before leaving to take part in the summit.
Cricket is hugely popular in India with players treated like superstars and the lucrative India Premier League has made sportsmen from across the globe wealthy.
The visitors have attracted a large support from Indians living and working in the UK and the wider Indian diaspora.
The test match, which now leaves England 2-1 ahead in the five-match series, was fractious at times with confrontations and words exchanged between the cricketers, but the Indian captain and his England counterpart Ben Stokes appear to have mutual respect for the efforts of everyone playing.
Gill said: “I think the way both teams played, they showed a lot of passion and we played with a lot of pride – we gave everything mentally and physically.”
