India and Australia Teams Join PM Albanese for New Year's Reception Ahead of Sydney Test

Before the last game of the Border Gavaskar Trophy that's happening on Friday, the cricket teams from India and Australia went to a New Year's party on Wednesday. The Australian prime minister hosted the party. Anthony Albanese, and his fiance Jodie Haydon, at Kirribilli House in Sydney. At the party, which lasted for about 90 minutes, Albanese enjoyed making jokes about Jasprit Bumrah, India's first rate bowler who's taken 30 wickets in the matches so far.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted his saying that, because the crowd goes anomalous and it's really great to see each time Bumrah bowls, Albanese made a joke, we must have a rule where Bumrah only uses his left hand or takes a single step to bowl.

When the fifth test starts on Friday, the SCG will be a sea of pink in support of the great work of the McGrath Foundation. Go Australia! pic.twitter.com/SxE8NsQgos

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 1, 2025

Konstas started shining in the Prime Minister's XI game by scoring a century, he'd take some credit for it. That's the only thing he's contributed to national cricket, he thinks. In the same article, it was shared that Sam Konstas, the new face in Australia's test matches who made 60 runs at the MCG, managed to take a picture with his hero, Virat Kohli.

There was a bit of conflict before, though because Kohli had bumped into Konstas earlier, which ended up costing Kohli a 20% fine of his match fee and a demerit point. When Konstas's parents were there, they didn't miss the chance to take a photo with Bumrah.

Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of India, took Rohit Sharma's turn to speak at the reception. Gambhir noted how marvelous and tough Australia is to tour and said the groups are amazing. Gautam didn't mention the current series but said, We have one more Test match remaining, and we wish to make the crowd happy.

Pat Cummins, the team captain, was excited about the Melbourne Test match. Cummins said it was one of the wildest Test matches they've ever played, especially how it went over five days. With the series score at 2-1 and Australia in the lead, they are extremely happy for this week. It's all coming down to the next game, and they are eager to try and win the entire series. Cummins mentioned how they've never witnessed anything that intense before and they're eager to experience it.

ALSO READ: Bumrah Created History With the Highest-Ever ICC Bowling Rating, Yashasvi Jaiswal Also Close to the Crown