“It will be the series which people will talk about for decades to come,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as he welcomed the visiting Indian cricket team and the hosts Australian team to Kirribilli House.
The 90-minute jamboree on New Year’s Day has become an annual tradition ahead of the Sydney Pink Test. Kirribilli House cricket reception
This year, it turned out to be a perfect evening.
Unlike previous years when the function was held around midday, this year’s event was scheduled for a 6 pm start, perhaps to allow for recovery from New Year’s Eve revelries.
For players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, this was the fourth visit to Kirribilli House, while for Yashasvi Jaiswal, his first. And yes, Yashasvi confided that he likes Sydney more than Melbourne, so one assumes that argument is settled once and for all. Rishabh Pant backed this up, describing a walk he had taken on Sydney Harbour foreshore earlier in the day.
In the official part of the evening, the Prime Minister suggested a new way to minimize the damage which Indian pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah has inflicted on the Australian batsmen. “We could pass a law here that says he has to bowl left-handed or off one step,” the PM joked.
He also acknowledged the emergence of young gun Sam Konstas and took credit for selecting him for the PM’s XI team though adding humbly that this his “only contribution to Australian cricket.” Kirribilli House cricket reception
Australian captain Pat Cummins, leading the series 2-1 could not keep the grin off his face as he acknowledged the huge numbers of spectators at the Boxing Day test.
In a surprise, India chose to have coach Gautam Gambhir say a few words rather than the captain Rohit Sharma. Gambhir summed up the mood in the Indian camp, now at the end of a long five-Test series, when he acknowledged that “Australia is a great country to travel in but a tough country to tour, probably the toughest tour for any sportsman.”
Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley was gracious in his ‘outgoing’ speech as he paid tributes to his staff, the players, and their families.
Aussie great Glenn McGrath, already in ‘pink’ mode, set the tone for his foundation’s flagship event about to take over the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Formalities concluded, it was good to see the interaction between the Indian cricket team and the Australian players.
While Marnus Labuschagne barged into a conversation which Virat Kohli was having with Steve Smith, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Usman Khawaja compared batting techniques, and Rishabh Pant engaged Tarvis Head in animated conversation.
But the two moments which highlighted the bonhomie of the evening was a friendly Sam Konstas asking Virat for a photo and both smiling into the camera, and the other was a breathless Prime Minister Albanese calling out for his son Nate for a photo with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Kirribilli House cricket reception
As the team buses pulled away, PM Albanese took off his jacket and shoes and with the few remaining guests, got into an impromptu game of backyard cricket.
Another wonderful way to celebrate this fantastic summer of cricket.
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