The Indian cricket team on Wednesday visited the Indian High Commission here ahead of their upcoming Test series against New Zealand. Captain Virat Kohli spoke about the "mutual admiration and respect" between the two countries and the fact that while New Zealand will want to beat the no.1 ranked Indian side, "there won't be any spite in it."
"In all our tours, coming to the Indian High Commission is always a very special evening because we get to spend time not only with a lot of people from India but also from the country that we are in," Kohli said in a video of the occasion tweeted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
"We just heard a few words about mutual admiration and respect between the countries and I couldn't agree more. I think if we had to share our number one spot with any other team it will be New Zealand," he said.
Kohli and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson had both not played in the third ODI between the two teams earlier in the month and a video of them chatting on the boundary line had gone viral. Kohli said that it is because of the sporting nature of the Kiwis that he can have easy conversations with Williamson during an ongoing match.
Can sit with Kane on the boundary line have a chat about life: Kohli opens up on relations with NZ players
"(The Indian Test team) have reached the stage where every team want to beat us and New Zealand won't be any different. But the difference is that there won't be any spite in it. That is one reason why I can sit with Kane on the boundary line and have a conversation mid-game about life and not cricket," he said.
On the visit to India House, India head coach Ravi Shastri took to Twitter to share his experience.
"Great conversations make great memories. India House is always a home away from home. Thank you, Mrs & Mr Pardeshi for having us #TeamIndia @IndiainNZ @MEAIndia @MukteshPardeshi @IndianDiplomacy," wrote Shastri.
