When cricket met politics ahead of elections

Come December 7th, the state of Telangana will be all set to elect representatives to its legislative assembly. However, matters of such importance rarely remain restricted to one particular reason - not with the vast reach of non-resident Indians around the world. The enthusiasm surrounding the Telangana elections reached the Brisbane Cricket Ground as well. India played their first T20 in an ongoing series vs Australia at The Gabba. But if one swept the audience, one would notice placards with a car drawn on them - the symbol of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi- one of the trailblazing parties who played a pivotal role in carrying out the agitation that ultimately promoted the region to Statehood. The placards in the stands even coined their slogan for

Er. Kalvakuntla Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and who is also representing the Nizamabad Lok Sabha Constituency in upcoming elections. The slogans they coined for her campaign were "Keep Car Running," a play on the symbol of the political party. "Today during the #AUSvIND T20 match at Brisbane in Australia, #TRS supporters displayed placards asking to vote for TRS and 'Keep Car Running'," the tweet read. https://twitter.com/mythreyaa/status/1065289182300401664 The effort was lauded by a particular section of supporters while others seemed less enthused by it. "Sad. It's a sports venue, please don't bring politics there. I think no country would appreciate bringing (displaying) some other country's politics into their land," read a tweet. https://twitter.com/SumanthMantha/status/1065422291234770944 The concerned T20I saw Australia beat India by four runs, courtesy the Duckworth-Lewis Method. It was a surprise win for Australia who has seen plenty of twists and turns in the game coupled with faulty fielding and instances that warranted extreme luck in favour of the hosts. Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant stood strong for Team India notching up a brilliant 51 off 23 balls during the match.