India vs Australia 1st ODI: Protestors with ‘No $1BN Adani Loan’ signs stage pitch invasion

India vs Australia 1st ODI: Protestors with ‘No $1BN Adani Loan’ signs stage pitch invasion

India’s tour of Australia kickstarted today with the 1st ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The match marked the return to international cricketing action for the Indian cricket team after a long gap. The hosts Australia put on a show in the first innings as they toyed with India’s bowlers to amass a massive total of 374 on the board.

Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, openers Aaron Finch and David Warner got to a 150+ partnership at a good pace. Following the latter’s dismissal for 69, the Australian skipper Finch got to his 17th ODI century. He was joined by Steve Smith who also got to a hundred but in quicker time. Fireworks from Glenn Maxwell too helped in pushing the score to 374.

Protesters with signs enter the field

During the seventh over of the first innings, a group of protestors with signs invaded the pitch and refused to leave. They were holding cardboard signs saying, ‘No $1BN Adani Loan’. Following the pitch invasion, the security guards took their own sweet time to get to the field and remove the protestors from the field. The players looked bemused by the incident and were seen smiling.

This protest comes after the Stop Adani group shared a release asking the State Bank of India to not approve a $1 billion loan to the Adani group. Following the incident, Cricket Australia stated that there was no issues about a bio-bubble breach for players as the protestors did not get near the players.

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