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In one of his addresses to the team, Head Coach, Anil Kumble had mentioned that confidentiality is something he rates highly. On Sunday (July 3), he proved why with a surprise team bonding session. The boys were asked to gather for a motivational talk in the evening, but much to their delight, the team were greeted by actor-musician Vasundhara Das and drummer Roberto Narain’s group, Drumjam.

Welcomed to the beats of drums, the Team India members quickly joined in and what followed was an evening filled with musical notes, fun, laughter, dance and a stronger connect between players and the support staff. Always ready to shake a leg, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli took charge and their rhythm was infectious. R. Aswhin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Jayant Yadav and Rohit Sharma made sure the party was high on energy.

The room soon reverberated with the sounds of drums and tambourines. One group that preferred tambourines over drums was asked to dance and the task was completed with much fanfare with Mr. Kumble too participating without any hesitation.

What made this surprise session special was the presence of MS Dhoni, India’s limited-overs captain. The Captain Cool patiently listened as the musicians gave quick instructions on playing the drums. “It is important to enjoy the period, which is tough. But till (the time), you stick together and enjoy as a group, I don’t think there is anything that will stop you. Make sure you have a lot of fun. The forty-five minutes that we spent here means we can have fun anywhere in the world. We just need the company of us,” said Dhoni in his trademark style.

For Kohli, the evening was one to cherish. “This is more of a life lesson than a cricket lesson. A lot of us will remember this day for what we did. Not many of us know how to dance and play the drums, but we tried and ended up having a lot of fun. We can try our best, be honest about what we do and good things will happen,” he observed.