The inaugural one-day international match between Indian and
Australia was halted briefly on Friday, when two men barged in on the Sydney SCG wearing “Stop Adani” tshirts and carrying “No $1 Bn Adani Loan”
placards in their hands.

The protesters entered the field when the game was in its
sixth over and David Warner and Aaron Finch were on the crease.

The two men were protesting against the SBI’s proposal to
liquidate Adani by 1 billion Australian dollars to prop up his mining venture
in Australia. They were led off the ground with ease by the security officials upon
which the game resumed.

‘Stop Adani’ is an activists’ forum, which has been waging
agitation against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s coal mining projects in
Australia.

The businessman, one of the richest in India, has been
alleged to have bypassed environmental clearances to start his coal mining
ventures in the Queensland, clearing swathes of vegetation “illegally” and drilling
“bores into aquifers of the Great Artesian Basin — putting groundwater at risk”.

The businessman has also been accused of planning to suck
out “270 billion litres of groundwater over the life of the mine” in Queensland.

He has been accused by the activists of many other ethical lapses, including
parking money in tax havens, his ties with which were unearthed in an
investigation by ABC’s Four Corners programme.