IND vs NZ, WTC Final: Why are Indian Players Wearing Black Armbands?

IND vs NZ, WTC Final Live: The much-awaited big moment has finally arrived as India are currently taking on New Zealand in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton. Incidentally, the first day of the historic Test match got washed out completely due to persistent rain throughout the whole day. However, the good news is that the rain gods have settled down and the big WTC final has already started.

Indian Players Wearing Black Armbands

On 19 June, 2021, Indian sprint legend Milkha Singh, famously called the ‘Flying Sikh’ passed away at the age of 91 owing to post Covid-19 complications. In order to pay tribute to one of India’s most legendary sporting icon, Team India players are wearing black armbands in the ongoing WTC Final against New Zealand. Many of the Indian cricketers including captain Virat Kohli and former batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar also paid condolences in remembrance of the legendary athlete.

Milkha Singh News, Age , Wife, Son, Movie, Race Record

#TeamIndia is wearing black armbands in remembrance of Milkha Singhji, who passed away due to COVID-19. ?#WTC21

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 19, 2021

Team india wear the #Blackarmband to give respect the legend #MilkhaSinghJi Huge respect to the kohli's team proud of you #teamindia #WTCFinal2021 #bharatgupta743 pic.twitter.com/6FBBOGJLKC

— Bharat Gupta ???? (@bharatgupta74) June 19, 2021

Many of the Indian cricketers including captain Virat Kohli and former batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar also paid condolences in remembrance of the legendary athlete.

IND vs NZ, WTC Final Live:

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bowl first while taking note of the conditions when the Test match started on Day 2. While looking at the overcast conditions, the Kiwi team have went ahead with an all pace bowling attack comprising of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, Kyle Jamieson and Colin de Grandhomme for this crucial India vs New Zealand Test match. They have decided to bench the only spinner in Ajaz Patel.

On the other hand, India have went ahead with the same playing XI that was announced on the eve of the Day 1 of the Test match. This will be the first time when India’s best five bowlers, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are part of the same playing XI. In order to accommodate the loss of play on Day 1 which was washed off, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has already announced that the reserve day (23 June) has officially come into play.

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