Mountains all around covered with snow, wind blowing and a temperature under 20, Australian cricket team would not have asked for a more familiar place to play cricket in India and here they were in Dharamshala for the all important final Test of the four-match series. One would wonder that despite knowing the Australian players prosper in these conditions why did the BCCI decided to host a Test against them at this venue. Yes, taking cricket to new regions could have been one of the reasons behind it but that could have been achieved by hosting comparatively weaker sides of New Zealand or Bangladesh. So, was there a bigger goal that the Indian government was trying to achieve? Well, at least the latest visuals hint so.
Watch the visuals from Dharamshala as team India lands:
One day before the match, the Australian team met the Dalai Lama. Yes, the same monk whose presence in India has been strongly opposed by neighbouring country China, most recently when he was invited to an international Buddhist seminar in Bihar. “In recent days the Indian side, in total disregard of China’s stern representation and strong opposition, insisted on inviting the 14th Dalai Lama to attend the international conference on Buddhism held by the Indian government,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters.
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So while China was complaining about Dalai Lama’s presence at one event less than a week ago, here he is getting pictured with top international cricketers who are clearly in his admiration. There couldn’t have been a better reply than this for China who earlier had also objected the o permission given to the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh which it regards as Southern Tibet. “China’s position on the eastern section of China-India border dispute is consistent and clear. The Dalai clique has long been engaging in anti-China separatist activities and its record on the border question is not that good,” added Hua Chunying.
Watch Virat Kohli as he knocks the ball around before the Test:
Responding to his remarks Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had said, “So, China’s stand is irrelevant, if we want to invite a major Buddhist leader to a conference, then it’s our privilege. We are not recognising the Dalai Lama as a political leader, but we do recognise him as a spiritual leader.” India and Australia will take on each other in Dharamshala from 25th March. The series is levelled at 1-1 and given the conditions, the visitors are likely to have an upper hand.