New Delhi: The Indian women’s cricket team sported black armbands as a mark of respect for the victims of the ghastly terror attack in Pahalgam, during their opening match of the Tri-nation series against Sri Lanka Women in Colombo on Sunday. The deadly attack left at least 26 dead, most of whom were tourists, as terrorists opened fire on Tuesday at the Baisaran meadows of the popular destination in the Kashmir valley.
The responsibility of the attack has been claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), which is said to be a shadow group of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group. The attack has drawn criticism and condemnation from the leaders across the globe.
Earlier, in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 23 as well, players wore black armbands and observed a moment of silence before the start of the play, for the Pahalgam victims.
India Women opt to bowl
Apart from India and Sri Lanka, South Africa is the third team participating in the tournament. The Tri-series, which is to be played in the ODI format, saw its very first game get shortened to 39 overs per side. Thundershowers at the R. Premadasa Stadium led to a delay of two hours as India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Playing XIs
Two players debuted for India Women in the series opener in Colombo – Nallapureddy Charani and Kashvee Gautam.
India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Kashvee Gautam, Arundhati Reddy, Sneh Rana, Nallapureddy Charani.
Say hello to #TeamIndia‘s Debutants! 👋
Congratulations to Sree Charani and Kashvee Gautam 👏👏
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/nET6V3RqM5#WomensTriNationSeries2025 | #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/iB0puwVZ6n
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) April 27, 2025
Sri Lanka also handed maiden caps to seamer Malki Madara and batter Piumi Badalge
Sri Lanka Women: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Hansima Karunaratne, Piumi Badalge, Achini Kulasuriya, Inoka Ranaweera, Malki Madara.
Team India players sported black armbands to pay their respects to the victims of Pahalgam terror attack, in their Tri-series opener against Sri Lanka Women in Colombo on Sunday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
