Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese were in attendance on Day 1 of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The two prime ministers were felicitated upon their arrival at the stadium, and then proceeded to present Test caps to their respective country's cricket captains before taking a lap of honour around the stadium.
The stadium in Ahmedabad, renovated and reopened in 2021, was renamed in honour of PM Modi and the Indian prime minister, along with PM Anthony Albanese, greeted a large crowd at the Ahmedabad stadium with a lap of honour on a cricket-themed four-wheeler. The duo was present ahead of the fourth Test to celebrate ‘75 years of Friendship’ between India and Australia.
Watch as the two prime ministers took the lap of honour at the Narendra Modi Stadium:
Earlier, Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss and opted to bat in Ahmedabad; while the Aussies go unchanged in the final Test of the series, India made one change with Mohammed Shami replacing Mohammed Siraj. Shami was rested in the third Test due to workload management but was brought back to the XI in an important match for India with regards to a place in the World Test Championship final.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss and opted to bat in Ahmedabad; while the Aussies go unchanged in the final Test of the series, India made one change with Mohammed Shami replacing Mohammed Siraj. Shami was rested in the third Test due to workload management but was brought back to the XI in an important match for India with regards to a place in the World Test Championship final.
{{/usCountry}}While Australia have already qualified for the title clash with a win in Indore last week, India require a victory to secure a direct passage to the final. In case India fail to win the Test, their qualification chances rely on the result of the two-Test series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, which began on Thursday as well.
India are leading the four-match series 2-1 and have already retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Indian team will thus keep the trophy for the third-successive time, having beaten Australia in the last two series Down Under (both with a 2-1 margin).