Modi, Aus PM Albanese take lap of honour, cheered by crowd, felicitated at Narendra Modi Stadium Ahmedabad:At the Narendra Modi Stadium, the crowd that usually indulge in caroling the Indian cricket team's players found an alternative in Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he hosted his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy finale here.
The Special Protection Group (SPG), the local cops, and a still-to-be-packed stadium with a capacity of 100,000 people, the prime ministers, reciprocating to the delighted crowd, waved their hands and travelled through the perimeter of the ground in a gold-plated golf car.
Albanese's visit is a part of the celebrations of the 75 years of Indo-Australia friendship. Shortly after his arrival in Gujarat's capital, he tweeted, "An incredible welcome to Ahmedabad, India. The beginning of an important trip for Australia-India relations."
Modi and Aussie PM Mr. Anthony Albanese, seated in the VIP box, are watching the finale of Border Gavaskar Trophy which has been the mother of all clashes in the cricketing world as India looks to seal its place in the World Test Championship final with Australia already occupying the berth.
Both the prime ministers were felicitated by BCCI chief Roger Binny and the board's secretary Jay Shah. The visit by the Australian PM is significant especially during a cricket match that binds the two nations historically with the game being the most loved sport of India, still not a national game, whereas Australia proudly boasts the game as their national sport. It is yet to be seen how this meet-up turns into calculated diplomacy at some point.
Meanwhile, the captains of the two teams -- Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith received their Test caps by Modi and Anthony respectively. This refurbished stadium which was used during the inauguration of the National Games last year is witnessing witness Modi for the first time, who is currently watching the Test match in the stadium named after him.
One can expect a record 100,000 people turning up on day one, which would beat the maximum attendance at the Eden Gardens (88,000-90,000) during Christmas Test matches before its capacity got reduced to 67,000. Seventy-five thousand tickets collectively of prices Rs 200 and Rs 350 have been sold.
Earlier on Wednesday, watching optional practice session of the two teams became difficult due to security protocols put in place. The question was then asked to Indian skipper Rohit Sharma at the presser if the presence of the two heads of state in a near full capacity stadium create more pressure on the players, he said his men are solely focused 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," he had said. India's coach Rahul Dravid too had emphasized that a packed stadium doesn't add any pressure to the players as they are used to such atmosphere.
India is currently leading the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series by 2-1 with Australia making a comeback in the last match.
