On Friday (June 20) at Headingley, players and officials from India and England observed a minute’s silence and wore black armbands to pay respects to those who lost their lives in the Ahmedabad air disaster. Everyone – players, match officials and the crowd – paused for a moment after the tragic crash on June 12. A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed shortly after take off from Ahmedabad on its way to London, killing 181 Indians and 53 British nationals. The plane lost control and hit a residential hostel near B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad. Sadly only one person is reported to have survived.
Before the match both team captains Shubman Gill and Ben Stokes were seen wearing the black armbands. In the press conference Rishabh Pant spoke for all of India. “All of India is heartbroken by what happened,” Pant said. “We hope to bring some joy to our people by playing hard and making them proud. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims.”
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Similar tributes had taken place in the last few matches – in the India A vs India intra-squad game and in the WTC Final against South Africa and Australia – and players from all teams wore black armbands.
This Test series marks a new chapter in the ICC WTC cycle. With Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin retiring, Shubman Gill takes over as captain of a younger team. England under Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum will look to continue their aggressive brand of cricket.
