Canberra, Nov 28 (IANS): Rohit Sharma hailed the strong relationships between India and Australia in his speech at the Australian Parliament on Thursday and vowed to build on the series-winning momentum in the ongoing tour.
The Indian players met the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as the Aussie PM hosted a reception at the Federal Parliament House ahead of the tour game.
"India and Australia. We go back a long way, whether it's sport, whether it is trade relations. Over the years, we have enjoyed coming to this part of the world, playing cricket, and enjoying a variety of the culture in the country. And obviously, Australia is one of the challenging... players to come and play cricket because of the passion people have, the competitiveness that every player possesses. Which is why for us, it's always been a great challenge to come here and play cricket," Rohit said in his speech.
"We've had some success in the past and the previous week as we look to build on that momentum, we also do want to enjoy a culture that Australia has. The variety of the cities gives us a different feeling. We do love coming here and enjoy our trip, and hopefully in the next few weeks, you know, we can entertain the Australian public and as well as the Indian fans who are here to play a massive role in achieving what we want to achieve. It's never easy," he added.
"We look forward to playing some cricket and at the same time, enjoying the country as well. It's a wonderful place, as we all know. Look forward to a very good month coming up. We are all excited and hopefully we can entertain. Thank you sir, for having us here. It's a pleasure," Rohit concluded.
The Indian team landed in Canberra from Perth on Thursday morning. They will play the day-and-night game against the Prime Minister’s XI, scheduled at the Manuka Oval, on Saturday.
India registered a monumental 295-run victory over Australia in the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Perth to go 1-0 up in the five-Test series.
The second Test, which is a day-night match, is scheduled to take place from December 6 to 10 in Adelaide.