Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Thursday morning reached the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad 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.
PM Modi, along with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, welcomed Albanese at the venue, the largest stadium in the world. Both the prime ministers were greeted with loud cheers before the start of the match as they took a lap of honour in the stadium to celebrate 75 years of friendship between India and Australia.
The two leaders then handed over Test caps to their respective team captains Rohit Sharma and Australia’s Steve Smith.
BCCI president Roger Binny felicitated the Australian Prime Minister while the BCCI secretary Jay Shah felicitated the India Prime Minister.
Australia had won the toss and elected to bat first against India.
Meanwhile, after watching the match for some time, the two Prime Ministers left the stadium.
The Australian PM arrived in Ahmedabad on Wednesday and attended some programmes, while Modi reached the state late last night.
On Wednesday, Albanese participated in Holi celebrations along with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and the Governor of Gujarat Acharya Devvrat at Raj Bhawan in the state capital Gandhinagar. “Honoured to celebrate Holi in Ahmedabad, India. Holi’s message of renewal through the triumph of good over evil is an enduring reminder for all of us”, Albanese tweeted along with colourful pictures of Holi celebrations with flowers and colours.
He also visited the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. He was accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.