‘Ji bhar ke lado’ – Fans react to fun banter between UK and Australia Prime Ministers regarding Ashes 2023

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese got engaged in a fun banter over the ongoing Ashes series in England. Both leaders met at the NATO summit in Vilnius on Tuesday. A video of their lighthearted interaction was shared by the Australian PM on his Twitter account.

When Albanese and Sunak crossed each other’s paths at the summit, Albanese presented Sunak with a surprising gift. He handed the British PM a printout displaying the scorecard of the ongoing series where Australia have the upper hand in the series where they are leading by 2-1 against the hosts.

The Australian PM then showed Sunak a photo that captured the controversial incident of stumping involving Jonny Bairstow during the second Ashes Test at Lords. In response to Albanese’s gesture, Sunak took out the photo of Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, who played a crucial role in England’s victory in the third Test at Edgbaston.

Sunak also took a dig at the Australian PM regarding the ball-tampering incident in 2018 which involved the members of the Australian Cricket team. He jokingly said, “I’m sorry I didn’t bring my sandpaper with me.” Notably, Albanese had previously expressed his support for the Australian team. While Sunak aligned himself with England skipper Ben Stokes regarding the
Spirit of Cricket incident during the series.

Mark Wood’s all-round led England to a victory in the third Test

Talking about the ongoing series, Australia already have the upper hand in the ongoing five-match with a lead of 2-1 in three matches. The visitors showed their dominance over the hosts by registering consecutive wins in Birmingham and London respectively. However, England made a comeback with a 3-wicket win at Headingley.

Fast Bowler Mark Wood played a crucial role in England’s victory that earned him the Player of the Match award. The 33-year-old scalped 7 wickets in the match including a fifer in the first innings. Wood also made an impact with a quickfire 24 runs off 8 balls in the first innings. He also played an unbeaten knock in the second innings as England chased 251 runs to save the series.