Lionel Messi gifts signed Argentina jersey to BCCI secretary Jay Shah: 'GOAT sends his best wishes'

Argentina captain Lionel Messi on Friday sent a special gift for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah which former cricketer Pragyan Ojha shared on social media.

Messi, who recently led Argentina to their third FIFA World Cup title in Qatar, sent a signed jersey with his name and number at the back of the shirt.

"Para Jay Shah (for Jay Shah)" the message on the Argentina jersey read.

Former India spinner Pragyan Ojha shared the picture of the jersey as he posed with it along with Jay Shah himself.

"#GOAT sends his best wishes & signed match jersey for jay bhai! What a humble personality. Hopefully I will get one for myself…. Soon," Ojha captioned the post.

Messi in elite list

Messi became the third captain after Daniel Passarella and Diego Maradona to lead Argentina to victory in the World Cup final. Messi was instrumental in the win as well, scoring twice in regulation and extra-time before the match went into penalties.

He opened the scoring in the 23rd minute to break the deadlock after Angel Di Maria earned a penalty for Argentina. It put him ahead of Kylian Mbappe on the number of goals in this edition.

Di Maria himself doubled the lead in the 36th minute before the defending champions hit back in the second half through Mbappe, who scored two goals in the space of 97 seconds to level the equation.

Messi then put Argentina ahead once again in extra-time to take his tally at the FIFA WC to 7 goals. But again, France pulled things back as Mbappe converted a penalty two minutes from the final whistle to take the game into the penalties.

Messi took the first shot for Argentina and converted, along with teammates Paulo Dybala, Leandro Paredes and Gonzalo Montiel. Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni.