Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pose with India captain Rohit Sharma and Australian skipper Steve Smit during day one of the Fourth Test matchat Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday, on March 9, 2023.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss and opted to bat against India in the series-deciding fourth Test here on Thursday, March 9, 2023.
Before the toss, the two captains received the Test cap from their respective Prime Ministers, Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese.
BCCI president Roger Binny felicitated Australia’s Prime minister Albanese, while the secretary Jay Shah felicitated PM Modi.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Albanese also did a lap of honour across the ground to mark the occasion of 75 years of friendship between India and Australia.
Australia remained unchanged, while Mohammed Shami replaced Mohammed Siraj in the Indian team.
Modi, Albanese take round of sprawling stadium
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Thursday morning reached the Narendra Modi stadium here and took a round of the massive sports arena on a golf car before the start of the fourth Test match between India and Australia.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Albanese handed over Test caps to their respective team captains Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith.
The round of the playing turf on a golf car by the two dignitaries was applauded by the thousands of spectators who had already taken their seats in the world’s largest cricket stadium.
Mr. Albanese arrived here on March 8 and attended some programmes, while Mr. Modi reached the State late last on March 8 night..
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami
Australia: Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (capt), Peter Handscomb, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann.
