Revealed: Why Indian players are wearing black armbands in Afghanistan clash at ICC T20 World Cup 2024

Indian cricketers donned black armbands in their Super 8 fixture against Afghanistan in Barbados.

The Rohit Sharma-led Team India took on Rashid Khan-led spirited Afghanistan side in their first Super 8 encounter of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Both the teams are placed in Group 1, along with Australia and Bangladesh.

The IND vs AFG match got underway on June 20, Thursday, at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, with Rohit winning the toss and electing to bat first.

Team India players wear black armbands for the former India cricketer David Johnson

The Men In Blue players were seen with black armbands when they came out for the national anthem. The players continued to don the black armband in the match. They made this gesture in memory of the recently passed away former India pacer David Johnson.

The BCCI confirmed this on Twitter saying, “Team India will wear black armbands today in memory of former Indian fast bowler David Johnson, who passed away on Thursday.”

Team India will wear black armbands today in memory of former Indian fast bowler David Johnson, who passed away on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/dhFiwjnWSs

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 20, 2024

A few hours before the IND vs AFG match, former India speedster David Johnson died at the age of 52. Johnson played in two tests for India 1996.

He had an illustrious domestic career, taking a total of 125 wickets from 39 games at an average of 28.63

BCCI Secretary Jay Shah tweeted, “Deepest condolences to family and friends of our former Indian fast bowler David Johnson. His contributions to the game will always be remembered.”

Meanwhile, in the match, Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first in Barbados.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan(c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

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