IND vs AUS: Indian Prime Minister shares centerstage with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli for National Anthem

Ahead of the fourth and final Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was spotted in the same frame along with skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli during the national anthem.

Mufaddal Vohra@mufaddal_vohra

What a picture - PM Narendra Modi, captain Rohit Sharma and King Kohli in the same frame during the national anthem.

09:24 AM · Mar 09, 2023

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Modi, who was present in the stadium along with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese celebrated India’s 75 years of friendship with the island country. He also handed the Test cap to Rohit Sharma while Albanese handed the Baggy Green to Steve Smith, who is leading the Australian side in the absence of regular skipper Pat Cummins.

Both politicians were also felicitated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ahead of the match. While BCCI President Roger Binny welcomed Anthony Albanese, secretary Jay Shah felicitated Narendra Modi. Later, the Prime Ministers took a lap of honour across the ground.

India made one change to their playing XI

Steve Smith managed to win the toss and elected to bat first in the fourth Test at Ahmedabad. He has named an unchanged XI for the final Test while India skipper Rohit Sharma replaced Mohammed Siraj with veteran pacer Mohammed Shami. 

Meanwhile at the toss, the 35-year-old expressed that he too would have batted first given the conditions. He also mentioned that the team needs to regroup and reflect on many things in order to return back to winning ways.

“We would have batted first. We know what needs to be done. Siraj is rested and Shami is back. It's always nice to have some time off. We need to regroup as a team, you can reflect on so many things. Not the surface what we saw in the first three Tests, looks a good pitch, I hope it stays the same for all five days,” Rohit said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

On the other hand, despite a lot of speculation, stumper-batter KS Bharat has retained his spot in the playing XI. A few reports claimed that Ishan Kishan may get his opportunity in the fourth Test but the team management decided to back the Andhra star.

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