Melbourne, July 10 -- No bat-mobile this time, but cricket was at the forefront for the winter meet-up between the Australia and India prime ministersFor cut-through in the middle of footy season, it perhaps won't get any better for Australian cricket than today at the MCG.

With Australian rules football goal posts entrenched in the ground behind them, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked side-by-side with Aussie cricket greats Steve Waugh and Pune-born Lisa Sthalekar across the hallowed turf on a cold July morning.

While the leader of the world's largest democracy was handed a Sherrin inscribed with 'PM Modi' on one of its cheeks, football was secondary during Friday's events at Melbourne's iconic ground - second only in size among...