Mealamu presents All Blacks jerseys to India cricket trio

Former New Zealand rugby captain Keven Mealamu presented personalised All Blacks jerseys to India cricketers Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma before the first one-day international against New Zealand on November 4, 2026. The Board of Control for Cricket in India shared photographs of the meeting and said the players received the jerseys before play. The presentation took place at Eden Park in Auckland, where the five-match ODI series opened. Gill, India’s captain, Kohli and Rohit posed with Mealamu in the images shared by the BCCI. One account reported that the jerseys bore the players’ cricket numbers: 77 for Gill, 18 for Kohli and 45 for Rohit. Mealamu represented New Zealand in 132 international matches, captained the All Blacks and was part of the teams that won the Rugby World Cup in 2011 and 2015. The meeting brought together players from two sports ahead of the cricket series, but the BCCI’s post and photographs are the central cited evidence for the presentation. A report also described a traditional Māori chant performed by cultural exponents as part of the teams’ pre-match entrance. Another account linked the presentation to centenary celebrations of...