India and Australia faced off in the fourth and final Test match of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Thursday. As it stands, India lead the series 2-1, with a chance to wrap up the series and a spot in the Test Championship final, should they at least get a draw out of the fourth Test match.
The penultimate game in Ahmedabad began with Indian Prime Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese handing Test caps to captains Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith. With Australia captain Pat Cummins unavailable for the game, Smith is at the helm for the Aussies. The two national leaders and team captains were also seen posing for pictures together to set the stadium abuzz.
Australia elect to bat first
It was Smith who won the toss and elected to bat first. The visitors have gone with an unchanged playing XI, while Rohit’s side left out fast bowler Mohammed Siraj for fellow pacer Mohammed Shami. The home skipper believes that the wicket for the match was not quite like what he saw in the first three games.
As far as the Test Championship is concerned, Australia are at the top of the table and have also sealed a spot in the final, which is set to be held at The Oval on June 7. India, on the other hand, stand in second position and need to win the series against Australia to ensure the final berth. This could also mean that the Asian side would win their fourth successive Test series win over the Kangaroos.
Australia last won a Test series over India in the 2014-15 series in Australia with a scoreline of 2-0. Since then, India registered a 2-1 win in 2016, 2018-19 and 2020-21. The last two series were played in Australia, making India the first team to beat the Aussies in back-to-back away series.
Australia had a steady first hour of play at the Narendra Modi Stadium, courtesy of an unbeaten opening partnership by Travis Head and Usman Khawaja. After 14 overs, Australia scored 56, with Head scoring 31 off 39 and Khawaja scoring 14 off 46.
Here is how the fans reacted on Twitter:
Dono Rohit aur Smith shayd late se uthe hai aaj..their faces tells that🌝
— Shubhashish Dey (@shubhashish_dey) March 9, 2023
Elections aa rhe hai kya kahi ?
— Rohit Sharma (@rohitsharma2503) March 9, 2023
Enemy nations shivering 🥶
— Indian Cricket Fan (@FanofICTforever) March 9, 2023
Captains of team and captains of county together ❤
— Marwari Patel (@MarwariPatel) March 9, 2023
feel for both Smith and Rohit that they have to tolerate this cringe
— Jon Targaryen (@jonknowsitall) March 9, 2023
I dont think this is cringe…they r celebrating 75yrs of frndshup btwn Aus Ind … As we got g20 presidency too all these events matter…also there are many financial and trade realted relations with aus..also diplomatic too so.. its not bad
— PAVAN KANTAMNENI (@pavankantamneni) March 9, 2023
Pat Cummins and Virat Kohli seeing this from corner and think about luck
— vishnu patharkar (@PatharkarVishnu) March 9, 2023
Here the Reason why Virat Kohli left captaincy 🤷♂️
— hor kuch (@amritpal07_) March 9, 2023
Steve Smith be like ab toh haath neeche kare de Cricket khelna hai Wrestling nahi 😅 pic.twitter.com/t7sGKMsaEk
— @Sansaari_monk (@rishiiiijain) March 9, 2023
