Why are Team India wearing black armbands in today's IND vs AFG T20 World Cup Super 8 match?
Team India are taking on Afghanistan in their first Super 8 stage match of the 2024 T20 World Cup at Kensington Oval in Barbados. The players have been spotted wearing black armbands in memory of former India fast bowler David Johnson. He tragically died on Thursday, June 20, at the age of 52 after falling from his apartment in Bengaluru.
Johnson represented India in a couple of Test matches in 1996 and had a first-class career spanning a decade, from 1992 to 2002. He made an instant impression with his sling arm action and raw pace, and ended up picking three wickets in international cricket.
He represented Karnataka in 39 First Class matches and 33 List-A matches as well. The BCCI released a brief statement right at the start of the contest.
"Team India will wear black armbands today in memory of former Indian fast bowler David Johnson, who passed away on Thursday," the statement read.
Several former cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir had conveyed their condolences following the tragic death.
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first as the side hoped to get a hold of the Caribbean conditions after playing out their league stage in the United States of America (USA).
"We are going to bat first. Looks alright at this moment, looks a good track. No grass on the pitch, I guess it will get slower. It's better than New York. We have to adapt to the conditions quickly. We have been here for a couple of days, we have played a lot of cricket. It's about understanding what we need to do in conditions like these," Rohit Sharma said at the toss.
India and Afghanistan played out a three-match T20I series earlier this year in the subcontinent. The Men in Blue won 3-0 on that occasion.
Team India in early trouble as Rohit Sharma perishes in the third over
The pitch has already shown its true shade as the opening duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma struggled against the new ball attack.
The Indian skipper survived a close LBW call against Fazalhaq Farooqi but lost his wicket to the same bowler soon after. He scored only eight runs off 13 deliveries with one boundary to his name.
As of writing, India are placed at 25/1 after four overs with Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant at the crease.