Ahmedabad : In a momentous occasion before the fourth and final Test between India and Australia, the Prime Ministers of both nations, Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese, graced the venue and presented special caps to the respective captains of their countries. The presentation was met with a huge roar from the crowd when Modi handed the cap to India’s skipper, Rohit Sharma. The two PMs and the two captains held each other’s hands in a photo-op that has now gone viral.
Despite the excitement, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. Rohit admitted that he would have preferred to bat first, but his team was ready to take on the challenge. “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,” he said at the toss.
The playing XI for India included Rohit Sharma as the captain, along with Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Srikar Bharat as the wicketkeeper, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, and Umesh Yadav. Australia’s playing XI included Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith as the captain, Peter Handscomb, Cameron Green, Alex Carey as the wicketkeeper, Mitchell Starc, Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann, and Nathan Lyon.
