[WATCH] Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese meet Indian and Australia teams ahead of Ahmedabad Test
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday, March 9, for Day 1 of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy match.
The Australian PM arrived in India on Wednesday for his four-day visit to the country. He celebrated Holi in Ahmedabad and also visited the Sabarmati Ashram to pay his tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.
On Thursday, Indian PM Modi welcomed Albanese to the Narendra Modi Stadium, the largest cricket ground in the world. Ahead of the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Indian captain Rohit Sharma introduced his teammates to Modi, while Australian skipper Steve Smith introduced his players to Albanese.
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 https://t.co/kFZsEO1H12
Earlier, Modi presented a special cap to Team India captain Rohit, while the Australian PM also handed over one to Smith.
The Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modiji presents the special cap to #TeamIndia captain @ImRo45 while The Honourable Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Anthony Albanese presents the cap to Australia captain Steve Smith.
@narendramodi | @PMOIndia | #INDvAUS https://t.co/8RH70LOx0v
The two prime ministers also took a lap of honor at the Narendra Modi Stadium amid loud cheers from the crowd.
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 https://t.co/OqvNFzG9MD
BCCI secretary Jay Shah presented a framed artwork to Modi, celebrating 75 years of friendship with Australia through cricket.
Mr. Jay Shah, Honorary Secretary, BCCI, presents framed artwork to Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modiji, celebrating 75 years of friendship with Australia through cricket.
@narendramodi | @PMOIndia | @JayShah | #TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @mastercardindia https://t.co/nmDJwq2Yer
Indian cricket board chief Roger Binny also presented a framed artwork to Albanese.
Mr. Roger Binny, President, BCCI presents framed artwork representing 75 years of friendship through cricket to Honourable Prime Minister of Australia Mr. Anthony Albanese
#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @mastercardindia https://t.co/Qm1dokNRPY
India are 2-1 up in the four-match Test series against Australia. However, they need to beat the visitors in Ahmedabad to confirm their berth in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Australia booked their place in the summit clash by winning the third Test in Indore by nine wickets.
Australia are batting first after winning the toss in Ahmedabad Test
Ahead of the Test, there were reports that Indian PM Modi would toss the coin for the Ahmedabad Test. However, nothing of that sort happened as Rohit and Smith went out for the toss as usual.
Australia won the toss, after which Smith decided to bat first. Speaking about the decision, the Aussie skipper said:
“It looks like a nice wicket, compared to the other games. The guys performed really well last week. We'll have a go once again.”
Special Coin Toss 👏 👏
Australia have elected to bat against #TeamIndia in the fourth #INDvAUS Test. https://t.co/psZeo6z5HV
On reports that the Ahmedabad Test will be his last in India, Smith replied:
“I am getting older (laughs). Four years is a long time, we'll see.”
While Australia have gone in with an unchanged squad, India have replaced Mohammed Siraj with Mohammed Shami.
India vs Australia playing XIs
India: 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: Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (c), Peter Handscomb, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (w), Mitchell Starc, Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan Lyon.