Read to find out why the Indian team are wearing black armbands in their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final clash against Australia.
The stage is set for the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Indian team takes on Australia in the 1st knockout game of the tournament. Both sides locked horns at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 4, and ahead of the start of the game, many fans noticed that the Men in Blue were seen wearing black armbands.
It is worth noting that the Indian team is wearing the black armbands as a tribute to legendary left-arm spinner Padmakar Shivalkar, who passed away on Monday, March 3, aged 84.
The BCCI took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and conveyed why the Men in Blue were wearing the black armbands. “In honour of the late Shri Padmakar Shivalkar, Team India is wearing black armbands today,” the BCCI posted.
Speaking of Padmakar Shivalkar, revered as one of the greats of domestic cricket, the spinner had taken a staggering 589 wickets in First-Class cricket in 124 games. Along with fellow left-arm spinner Rajinder Goel, Shivalkar was presented with the C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2017.
As for the Indian team, the side will be hoping for a good performance in the clash against Australia. It is worth noting that to kick off the game against Australia, it were the Men in Yellow who won the toss and opted to bat first.
India went with the exact same lineup from their game against New Zealand, and the side will hope that they can replicate their form in the 1st semi-final and book their berth in the summit clash.
India playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
