The morning of the 4th Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia was made special by the presence of the two countries’ Prime Ministers: Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese and India’s prime minister Narendra Modi were both present at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
PM Modi and Australian PM Anthony Albanese are in attendance at this huge stadium to watch the match on Day 1. The match is the 4th and last Test of this exciting series, which stands at 2-1 in favor of India.
The hosts won the Nagpur and Delhi Tests before the visitors bounced back to claim a 9-wicket victory in Indore.
Anthony Albanese is on a four-day state visit 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.
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.
Virat Kohli was standing last in the line. When PM Modi reached India superstar Virat Kohli, the cricketer had a hearty smile on his face, happy to meet PM Narendra Modi while the PM also reciprocated with a smile and both shared a couple of words. Both the PMs then stood alongside their players as everyone sang the national anthems ahead of the match getting started.
The BCCI released the video of this.
Watch: Virat Kohli gives a smile upon meeting with PM Narendra Modi:
A special welcome & special handshakes! 👏
The Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modiji and the Honourable Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Anthony Albanese meet #TeamIndia & Australia respectively. @narendramodi | @PMOIndia | #TeamIndia | #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/kFZsEO1H12
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 9, 2023
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli will be itching to have a big score in Ahmedabad. He’s had a quiet series so far with 111 runs in 3 Tests at an average of only 22 and a best score of 44. The talisman India batter also would want to end his century drought in Tests, dating back to November 2019.
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
