Dawn start, pageantry and lap of honour: Modi serves up irregular day of Test cricket

Australia’s PM and cricketers had walk-on parts on Indian leader’s big day, although attendance fell short of MCG’s record

Test cricket doesn’t normally require setting an alarm for 5.45am. One of the game’s charms is a leisurely late-morning start. Not in Ahmedabad on Thursday to start the fourth and final match between India and Australia. With the prime ministers of the respective countries due to make a ceremonial appearance, and security ramped up accordingly, working media were told to arrive hours early or risk being cordoned off outside.

What followed was a bizarre display of pageantry that on reflection should be no surprise when a leader named Narendra Modi visits a place named Narendra Modi Stadium. It is a short path for a leader to start being treated as a ruler. Ahead of further economic discussions to bolster an existing free trade agreement, Modi and his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, arrived to applause in front of a huge sightscreen featuring both of their likenesses in a Photoshop movie poster pose, Modi’s image naturally slightly larger and further in front.

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