Prime Minister Narendra Modi Visits MCG Australia Tuesday Nov 18,2014

 

In the final stopover of his trip to Australia, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) along with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott. 

The two were accompanied by cricketing stalwarts like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and VVS Laxman from India and  Dean Jones, Michael Kasprowicz, Glenn Mcgrath Steve Waugh and Allan Border from Australia.

Gavaskar, who was part of the team that won a Test match at the MCG in 1981, said that not only has the political and diplomatic relations improved after the meeting but it has had a positive impact in the sporting relations between the two nations as well.
“This was more of a sporting event than a political event. It shows both India and Australia have close sporting ties. Our relations with Australia has greatly improved after our Prime Minister's visit here,” Gavaskar told

India’s 1983 World Cupwinning captain Kapil Dev said it is not very often that sportspersons get called when two Prime Ministers are meeting and felt that the current generation should achieve more than what the past generation have.
“It is wonderful that two Prime Ministers meet and we, as cricketers, get to be part of it. It is very rare that any Prime Minister calls sports people.We would like close ties with Australia but on the field, it is all about playing hard and fighting hard. We can go for drinks in the evening once the match is over.Younger generation should achieve more than we did,” Kapil Dev told

VVS Laxman, who enjoyed stupendous success against Australia during his playing days, said that he felt honoured to be in the company of  the Prime Ministers of both the countries and was optimistic about India’s chances down under.
“I am honoured to be here with Indian and Australian cricket legends. But I am more honoured to be with two wonderful Prime Ministers. India have the potential to defend their World Cup title (in Australia). It is good the team is coming here for the Test series (starting December 4),” VVS Laxman told

Narendra
Modi wished the Australian team the very best for the World Cup and said that India was impressed by Australia’s fast bowling just like how they were impressed by India’s spin bowling capabilities. The 2015 Cricket World Cup will begin on February 14th at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch and the final will be played on March 29th at the MCG.
"We are impressed by Australian speed as you are charmed by the Indian spin until ofcourse Shane Warne came along” he said while addressing the Parliament in Australia.
Modi posted a selfie with his Australian counterpart on his Twitter page.
 

Mahatma Gandhi’s Khadi Chakra with three white cricket balls signed by Mahendra Singh Dhon i(extreme right), Kapil Dev (centre) and Narendra Modi (extreme left)