IND vs ENG: Why Indians players are wearing black armbands in third Test against England?

Team India players were spotted wearing black armbands on Day 3 of the third Test against England on Saturday at the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium in Rajkot. The BCCI has announced that Indian players would be sporting black armbands in the memory of former India captain and the country’s oldest Test cricketer – Dattajirao Gaekwad.

Gaekwad passed away on 13 February in the ICU of a Baroda hospital due to age-related incidents. He was the father of former India player and head coach Anshuman Gaekwad.

“Team India will be wearing black arm bands in memory of Dattajirao Gaekwad, former India captain and India’s oldest Test cricketer who passed away recently,” BCCI said in a statement on Saturday.

Dattajirao played in 11 Tests for India from 1952 to 1961 and captained the side on the tour of England in 1959. Overall, he scored 350 runs at an average of 18.42 and scored one fifty.

Dattajirao was also India’s oldest living Test cricketer which he became in 2016 after the death of former batter Deepak Shodhan at the age of 87 in Ahmedabad.

Coming to the match.

India are without Ravichandran Ashwin from Day 3 of the Rajkot Test as the senior spinner had to leave midway due to a family medical emergency. Team India will be playing with just 10 players, however, they will be allowed to use a substitute fielder.

“In these challenging times, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the team fully supports Ashwin,” BCCI said in a statement. “The BCCI extends its heartfelt support to the champion cricketer and his family. The health and well-being of the players and their loved ones are of utmost importance. The Board requests respect for the privacy of Ashwin and his family as they navigate through this challenging time.”

England were 260/4 at the time of publishing this report. They trail India (445) by 185 runs and still have Ben Duckett (153*) at the crease.