Umpires Black Armbands: Why are the umpires wearing black armbands in Australia vs India MCG Test?

Umpires Black Armbands: The two umpires are wearing black armbands in the ongoing second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

During the first day of the second Test of the ongoing India’s tour of Australia in Melbourne, an all-round show by the Indian bowlers saw them dismissing Australia for 195 in 72.3 overs after home captain Tim Paine won the toss and chose to bat.

Spearhead Jasprit Bumrah led the bowling attack with figures of 16-4-56-4 which included dismissals of Joe Burns (0), Travis Head (38), Mitchell Starc (7) and Nathan Lyon (20).

Bumrah received healthy assistance especially in the second session by debutant Mohammad Siraj who appeared to do his best to justify his selection over that of Navdeep Saini.

What also shone for India was an impressive captaincy by Ajinkya Rahane who was quick to introduce spin into the attack in the form of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. With bowling figures of 24-7-35-3, Ashwin picked wickets without giving away too many runs.

For Australia, Marnus Labuschagne spent the most time in the middle while scoring 48 (132) with the help of four fours.

Umpires Black Armbands

On the first day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the two on-field umpires caught the attention of the fans for wearing black armbands. It is worth mentioning that the same has been done as a mark of respect for umpire Rod Tucker’s mother who passed away on Thursday.

It is due to the same reason why Tucker isn’t part of the umpiring panel for this match. In the first Test in Adelaide, the Australian umpire was the third umpire with Bruce Oxenford and Paul Reifel fulfilling the on-field duties.

In the ongoing Test, Tucker has been replaced by 48-year old Paul Wilson with the other umpires remaining the same. In times of playing inside biosecurity bubbles, only local umpires are allowed to officiate in international matches.