This summer\u2019s opening match of Australia\u2019s Big Bash League between defending champions Perth Scorchers and the Melbourne Renegades will be played in India in a historic move announced during a visit by the country\u2019s Prime Minister to Melbourne.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of people gave India\u2019s Narendra Modi a rapturous welcome to Australia overnight as he appeared with Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese at Marvel Stadium.<\/p>\n
The two leaders appeared again together on Friday, this time on the turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, to announce that Australia will bring the Big Bash League to India for the first time later this year.<\/p>\n
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By continuing you agree to our Terms<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n On December 12 the Melbourne Renegades will take on the Perth Scorchers at Chennai\u2019s MA Chidambaram Stadium, before one of global cricket\u2019s most passionate audiences.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia and India are united by our love and passion for sport,\u201d Mr Albanese said standing next to his Indian guest to make the sporting announcement as part of wider efforts to strengthen ties between both nations.<\/p>\n \u201cI am excited to expand cooperation with India on sport, which not only brings joy to Australians but boosts trade, tourism and investment.\u201d<\/p>\n The BBL match will be the cornerstone of a week-long festival called \u2018G\u2019day Namaste\u2019 to be held across India in December, featuring Australian cultural, business and sports events.<\/p>\n \u201cI am confident that just like in sports, our partnership too will become a champion in every field,\u201d Mr Modi said during his joint appearance with Mr Albanese at the MCG.<\/p>\n Commercial terms around the BBL match, such as ticket sales, have not been finalised.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know they\u2019re incredibly passionate cricket fans all over India, but particularly in Chennai,\u201d Cricket Australia\u2019s BBL chief Alistair Dobson told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone we\u2019ve spoken to has been really optimistic that we should expect a good crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a genuinely historic moment for Perth Scorchers and for cricket in Western Australia,\u201d said West Australia cricket chief John Stephenson.<\/p>\n \u201cIndia is the heartland of global cricket, and bringing the Scorchers to that audience is an opportunity we have embraced wholeheartedly.\u201d<\/p>\n As the two Prime Ministers stepped on to the red carpet of Marvel Stadium on Thursday night, twinkling phone lights illuminated the feverish audience in the stands as they chanted \u201cModi, Modi, Modi\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe spirit of India\u201d was alive across Melbourne, Narendra Modi declared to the crowd of up to 30,000 attendees, who were mostly of Indian heritage.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Indianness within you has always endured and been kept alive,\u201d the visiting leader said as he described how community markets across the Victorian capital and Australia captured the colour and spirit of his own nation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe Indians are like that \u2014 just as when sugar is added to milk, it makes the milk much sweeter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe milk is bought from Australia, however the tea is made the Indian way.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Alvanese spoke at the \u201cMelbourne Meets Modi\u201d event, welcoming the Indian leader as \u201ca very dear friend\u201d.<\/p>\n He also thanked the largely Indian diaspora crowd, saying about one million Australians can trace their roots back to the South Asian nation.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralians of all backgrounds have been enriched by you bringing your culture here and adding it to our multicultural character,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr Albanese told the crowd he spent six weeks backpacking in India in 1991 where he experienced the generosity and warmth of its people.<\/p>\n \u201cI learned there something very simple and clear \u2026 if you want to understand India, get on a train,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Following meetings on Thursday, the two leaders signed a series of agreements to boost cooperation in areas such as defence and nuclear energy which will see billions of dollars\u2019 worth of increased Australian uranium exports to India.<\/p>\n In a joint declaration, both countries agreed to stage increasingly complex defence exercises, expand aircraft deployments from each other\u2019s territories, and share more information between their militaries.<\/p>\n Western Australian Premier Roger Cook on Friday declared the state would not overturn its existing policy to ban uranium mines in the state which was taken by Labor to the 2021 and 2025 elections.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re continuing to adhere to that policy commitment,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n Earlier Federal Resources Minister Madeline King would not be drawn on whether a ban on establishing new uranium mines in Western Australia should be lifted to help accommodate the increased demand from India.<\/p>\n Currently, only South Australia and the Northern Territory allow uranium mining, despite Minister King\u2019s home state of Western Australia having capacity to produce an estimated 8000 tonnes for export each year.<\/p>\n Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan opened Thursday evening\u2019s event, saying her state was \u201chome to more Indian-Australians than anywhere else\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cVictoria respects India, we value your people,\u201d she said. \u201cWe welcome your students, your businesses, your families, your ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Victoria the Indian community is not just accepted, they are part of who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Modi is wrapping up his third official visit to Australia in 12 years on Friday, having first been formally welcomed here in 2014 by then-prime minister Tony Abbott.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This summer\u2019s opening match of Australia\u2019s Big Bash League between defending champions Perth Scorchers and the Melbourne 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