Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and were each gifted with potraits of themselves fashioned by collages of Australian and Indian cricketers who represented their countries in matches played over the last 75 years.
On Thursday ahead of the start of the fourth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organised a felicitation for the two prime ministers at the venue.
BCCI President Roger Binny gifted Albanese and presented him a picture of the Australian PM made up of a collage of Australian players who had represented the national team during the past 75 years.
Similarly, BCCI secretary Jay Shah felicitated PM Modi with a picture made up of a collage of Indian cricketers who had represented the Indian team.
According to the BCCI it was a special gesture to mark the 75 years of friendship between India and Australia. The potraits presented to the two leaders were made up by a collage of all cricketers who played for respective countries in the last 75 years.
The Congress had criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for receiving his own picture from BCCI Secretary Jay Shah and had termed it the "height of self-obsession".
The Congress took potshots at PM Modi for taking a lap of honour at the stadium prior to the match. "Doing a lap of honour in a stadium you named after yourself in your own lifetime - the height of self-obsession," Congress General Secretary in-charge, Communications, Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, PM Modi and PM Albanese after taking a lap of honour of the stadium handed over Test caps to their respective team captains Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith before the start of the match.
Both the prime ministers were greeted with loud cheers before the start of the match as they took a lap of honour across the massive sports arena to celebrate 75 years of friendship between India and Australia.
Albanese and PM Modi briefly watched the match as Australia came in to bat first and they left the stadium later.
A special coin, minted to mark the occasion, was used at the toss.
The Australian PM compared the cricket match with the burgeoning bilateral ties between India and Australia, saying that both countries were cooperating to make a better world just as their cricket teams were competing to be the best in the world.
( With inputs from ANI )
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