PM Modi visits MCG, unveils India-Australia sports collaboration roadmap

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese jointly unveiled the India-Australia Sports Collaboration Roadmap at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Friday (Source: Photo by PTI)

According to a release issued by the MEA, the roadmap aims to strengthen cooperation in sports training and capacity building, sports science and technology, and sports industry and investment between the two countries (Source: Photo by PTI)

One of the notable feature as a part of this collaboration was announcement of the inaugural match of the upcoming edition of Big Bash League being played at MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk) in Chennai this December (Source: Photo by PTI)

The match will be held between Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers (Source: Photo by PTI)

A press note released by the Australian government stated that this will be the first foreign cricket league to play in India. The event will be the cornerstone of a week-long festival, called G'Day Namaste, to be held across India in December, featuring Australian cultural, business and sports events (Source: Photo by PTI)

During the event at the MCG, two Prime Ministers were also accompanied by Premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan, ODI World Cup winning former men's captain Steve Waugh and women's skipper Lisa Sthalekar (Source: Photo by PTI)

Addressing the gathering, PM Modi highlighted the unique role of sports in bringing people together and noted that the Roadmap will enable the two countries to diversify their sporting partnership (Source: Photo by PTI)

Modi congratulated Australia for winning the women's cricket World Cup. He also noted that India and Australia were together entering a significant decade in international sports, with India hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2030 and Australia hosting the Brisbane Olympics in 2032 (Source: Photo by PTI)

He emphasized that these developments create natural opportunities for closer bilateral cooperation in sports and associated industries (Source: Photo by PTI)

During the visit, the leaders interacted with young athletes participating in Kabbadi, Australian Football and Cricket exhibition games (Source: Photo by PTI)