Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese were in attendance on the opening day of the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The air was festive on Thursday but security has been beefed up for the visit of the two PMs. Modi and Albanese’s visit is a part of the celebrations relating to the 75 years of Indo-Australia friendship.
The Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modiji and The Honourable Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Anthony Albanese have arrived at the stadium! @narendramodi | @PMOIndia | @AlboMP | #TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/5bijT2ENJ5— BCCI (@BCCI) March 9, 2023
While PM Modi has earlier visited the refurbished 1.10 lakh capacity stadium during the inauguration of the National Games last year, this is the first time he will be watching a Test match after its renaming.
Both the PMs are took a round of the stadium on a gold-plated golf car.
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The Special Protection Group (SPG) has taken charge of the stadium and one can expect a record 100,000 people turning up on day one, which would beat maximum attendance at the Eden Gardens (88,000-90,000) during Christmas Test matches before its capacity got reduced to 67,000.
A portable dais was set up on one end in front of the sightscreen for a short function featuring Falu before the start of the match.
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 pic.twitter.com/Qm1dokNRPY— BCCI (@BCCI) March 9, 2023
On Wednesday, Albanese paid tributes to Mohandas Gandhi, India’s independence leader, during a visit to the Sabarmati Ashram, which was one of Gandhi’s abodes in India. Albanese later attended a cultural event related to the Hindu Holi festival at the state governor’s residence.
Albanese, on Thursday, will later leave for Mumbai, where he will visit India’s homemade aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, which was commissioned into the Indian navy in September. The two leaders will hold official talks in New Delhi on Friday.
The two PMs also did an honourary lap of the ground ahead of the toss.
Steve Smith, who is standing in for Pat Cummins, won the flip of the unique coin made for the occasion, and announced that Australia will be batting first and that they have an unchanged side from the previous match. Rohit Shamra said at the toss that Mohammed Shami replaced Mohammed Siraj in the playing XI.
Asked if the presence of the two heads of state and a near full capacity stadium create more pressure on the players, India captain Rohit Sharma had said that his men are focussed on the job in hand.
“Yeah, the Prime Ministers of both countries are coming. Obviously, it’s an exciting time. For players, we’ve got a job at hand. So the talk is just around that… how we’re going to come on top of this Test match and try and do everything we can to win this Test,” Rohit said on the eve of the match.
Head coach Rahul Dravid had earlier said that big crowd won’t put pressure on the Indian players as many of them are used to playing in front of jam-packed stadiums.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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