Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will not join his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to witness the much-awaited upcoming Cricket World Cup between the teams of both nations. According to media reports, instead of Albanese, Deputy PM Richard Marles will witness the historic match which is scheduled to be held on November 19 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Earlier, multiple media reported that Albanese would travel to New Delhi in order to boost the morale of his cricket team at the world's largest cricket stadium. In fact, when Albanese visited Delhi in May this year, PM Modi invited him for the upcoming event.
Currently, PM Albanese is attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the United States and there are no official words from the concerned ministry as of writing this article. Earlier in March this year, both leaders witnessed a test match between the two nations-- a month before the Indian leader was scheduled to visit Canberra.
Why upcoming India Vs Australia is a historic match?
Notably, India and Australia are facing each other in the ICC World Cup 2023 final at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi on Sunday, November 19. India beat New Zealand to reach the World Cup final for the fourth time while five-time champions ended South Africa's run and will be featuring in the record-stretching eighth final.
Both cricket giants currently occupy the top two spots in the ODI rankings and have been exceptional in the 2023 edition. India beat Australia by six wickets in Chennai in their first game of this edition and have stretched the winning run to 10 victories.
On the other hand, Australia lost the opening two games but registered eight successive wins to display their dominance in the tournament. India remains strong favourites in the final but Australia hold the upper hand due to the past results against India in the marquee.
India and Australia first clashed in the mega-tournament during the 1983 edition where Kapil Dev's side suffered a huge 162-run defeat. India quickly took revenge by recording a 118-run win in their last group-stage game of the tournament. Since then, both teams have faced each other 13 times in ODI World Cup history with Australia dominating the head-to-head record by 8 wins and 5 defeats.
Australia also emerged winners when they beat India by 125 runs in the 2003 final at the Wanderers. India also suffered a heartbreaking 95-run defeat in the semifinal of the 2015 edition in Sydney.
