PM Modi Takes A Lap Of Honor With Australian PM In Narendra Modi Stadium: India’s prime minister Narendra Modi and Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese were the two major dignitaries present on the morning of Day 1 of the 4th Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia.
Aussie PM Anthony Albanese is currently on a 4-day state trip to India from March 8 to March 11. It’s the first visit by an Australian prime minister in six years and comes on the heels of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which entered into force in December.
The duo were heavily involved for an hour in the morning as huge crowd had come to see them and be part of this momentous occasion.
The BCCI president Roger Binny felicitated Australia’s prime minister, while the BCCI secretary Jay Shah felicitated the India prime minister Narendra Modi.
Both the Prime Ministers presented Test caps to their respective cricket captains. Steve Smith got his Baggy Green from Anthony Albanese while Rohit Sharma got his special blue Test cap from PM Narendra Modi.
After this, both the PMs went on a lap of honor standing in a specially made grand chariot. They waved to the crowd with beaming smiles and the crowd reciprocated them with big cheers and salutes.
Watch: PM Modi and Australia PM take a lap of honour at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Incredible moments 👏👏
The Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modiji and the Honourable Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Anthony Albanese take a lap of honour at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad@narendramodi | @PMOIndia | #TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @GCAMotera pic.twitter.com/OqvNFzG9MD
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 9, 2023
After the toss and prior to the kick-off, both the PMs met the players of their countries. Captains Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith strode alongside their respective Prime Ministers and introduced each player. Both the PMs also stood in the national anthems.
Meanwhile, this is a must-win game for India for them to qualify for the WTC final. India were leading the series 2-0 after victories in Nagpur and Delhi before the visitors bounced back to claim a 9-wicket victory in Indore.
Steve Smith won the toss in Ahmedabad and elected to bat first.
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav
Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith(c), Peter Handscomb, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Mitchell Starc, Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan Lyon
