Australia Cricket Black Armbands: Why is the Australian cricket team wearing black armbands in Adelaide Test vs India?

Australia Cricket Black Armbands: The Australian cricketers are wearing black armbands in the ongoing first Test at the Adelaide Oval.

During the first day of the first Test of the ongoing India’s tour of Australia in Adelaide, India captain Virat Kohli has won the toss and chose to bat.

Not getting off to the best of starts, India lost opening batsman Prithvi Shaw (0) in the first over itself. It was batsman Cheteshwar Pujara’s resolute innings followed by Kohli’s 23rd half-century which brought the Indian innings back on track.

While India would have wanted to score at a better run-rate after electing to bat first, the visitors would be contended of the fact that they didn’t loose too many wickets against the new ball.

With Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane batting in the middle, the last one hour or so against the second new ball would be interesting to follow.

Australia Cricket Black Armbands

On the first day at the Adelaide Oval, the Australian players caught the attention of the fans for wearing black armbands. It is worth mentioning that the same has been done as a tribute for former Australia all-rounder Eric Freeman who had passed away aged 76 a couple of days ago.

A right-hand batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler, Freeman had made his Test debut against India in Brisbane in 1968. In 11 Tests for Australia, Freeman had scored 345 runs at an average of 19.16 and picked 34 wickets at 33.17.

“Eric will forever be remembered as one of the greatest athletes South Australia has ever produced. He was an all-rounder in every sense of the word – powerful with both bat and ball in cricket and a prodigious goal-kicker with the Magpies in the winter months.

for Eric Freeman

— Rick Eyre on cricket (@rickeyrecricket) December 17, 2020

“He remained a popular member of the cricket family after his retirement as a player with commentary roles on the ABC and junior development positions with West Torrens. On behalf of everyone within Australian cricket, we pass on our sincere condolences to Eric’s family,” Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings had said in a statement.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

Read More