Is Modi turning to cricket diplomacy to bat for Adani ?

Modi cozying up to Albanese is being seen as his effort to help Adani group which is facing campaigns against its mining activities in Carmichael in Australia from climate activists

Hyderabad: Even as India and Australia battle it out on the field in the fourth and final cricket test match at Ahmedabad, a different ball game is said to be in progress, albeit off the field.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s arrival for the test match in Motera, in the stadium named after his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday, has more to it than meets the eye, according to the debates that are gathering steam in political circles over the match and the show of bonhomie that Modi put up with Albanese before the match began.

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Though it was dubbed a show of camaraderie to celebrate 75 years of India-Australia friendship, political pundits are reading between the lines, linking the sudden exhibition of love for cricket from Modi to the large-scale protests being staged against the Adani Group in Australia.

Many believe Modi is padding up to bat for his friend Gautam Adani, who apart from facing the financial consequences of the revelations by the Hindenburg Research report, is also now facing opposition from protestors in other countries who want their governments to review their partnerships with the Adani Group. The group has been facing campaigns against its mining activities in Carmichael in Australia from climate activists, with Hindenburg Research too naming the Carmichael coal and rail project via the ‘rebranded’ subsidiary Bravus, among the group’s suspicious deals. In this background, Modi cozying up to Albanese is being seen as his effort to help Adani.

Sharing a video of protestors holding placards and raising slogans against Adani Group, on February 11, Professor Ashok Swain tweeted “Protest in front of banks in Australia for funding Adani’s coal empire”.

Many also questioned the context of the ceremony. “Have Indo-Australian ties deteriorated to such a level, over the Adani controversy, that the Modi govt is forced to use the time-tested sports diplomacy for mending fences? Both PM Manmohan Singh & PM AB Vajpayee previously exploited South Asia’s cricket passion for the sake of peace,” tweeted Seema Sengupta, a columnist.

Earlier, Modi tweeted: “Cricket, a common passion in India and Australia! Glad to be in Ahmedabad with my good friend, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to witness parts of the India-Australia Test Match. I am sure it will be an exciting game!”

Taking potshots at this, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “A lap of honour around the stadium he got named after himself in his own lifetime is a good occasion for heralding a quarter century of pointed questions with HAHK (Hum Adanike Hain Kaun)-25 Chuppi Todiye Pradhan Mantriji.”