New Delhi: The Indian men’s cricket team donned black armbands on their uniforms while taking the field at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday for their first One-Day International match against Sri Lanka. This move is to pay respect to former India cricketer Anshuman Gaekwad, who passed away on Wednesday (July 31).
Gaekwad took his last breath in his hometown Baroda at the age of 71 following his long tussle with blood cancer. He played 40 Test matches and 15 One-Day Internationals from 1975 to 1987, scoring over 2000 international runs. He amassed 12,136 runs from 206 first-class matches at an average of 41.56 with 34 centuries.
“Team India is wearing black armbands today in memory of former Indian cricketer and coach Aunshuman Gaekwad, who passed away on Wednesday,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a statement.
Team India is wearing black armbands today in memory of former Indian cricketer and coach Aunshuman Gaekwad, who passed away on Wednesday.
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 2, 2024
Gaekwad’s last stint with Indian cricket was being one of the three members of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) to the BCCI. Gaekwad, Kapil Dev, and Shanta Rangaswamy formed the CAC, which reappointed Ravi Shastri as head coach on successive term in 2019.
Indian cricket starts transition under Gautam Gambhir
The first of the three ODI matches against Sri Lanka is the Indian cricket team’s first assignment under newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir. India blanked Sri Lanka 3-0 in the T20I series earlier this week to mark the start of Gambhir era.
Senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma return to the side after the duo announced retirements from the T20I format after lifting the T20 World Cup in Barbados in June. Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul also makes his first presence in interntional cricket in seven months after he was snubbed from the T20 World Cup squad.
India playing XI vs Sri Lanka in 1st ODI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj
The Indian men’s cricket team donned black armbands on their uniforms while taking the field at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday for their first One-Day International match against Sri Lanka. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
