Why do players wear black armbands during the India vs England Lord’s ODI match?

India players stand for a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the late cricketer Garfield Sobers at the start of the third ODI between England and India at Lord’s Cricket Ground (AP photo) India and England players paid tribute to cricket legend Sir Gary Sobers by wearing black armbands during the third and final ODI at Lord’s on Sunday, two days after the West Indies great passed away.The gesture came ahead of the series decider between the two sides at the iconic venue, with both teams honoring one of the greatest all-rounders of all time. Widely regarded as one of cricket’s greatest players, Sobers died on Friday, prompting tributes from across the cricketing world.The players took to the pitch wearing black armbands as a mark of respect before the start of the game in London.The tribute came ahead of an important contest where India and England entered the third tier of ODIs level at 1-1 after sharing the opening two matches of the series.England captain Harry Brook won the toss and elected to bat first, backing his side to make the most of what he believed would be a good batting surface.“We’re going to bat today. It looks like a good surface; hopefully we can get a decent score on the board and put them under pressure,” Brook said at the toss.England have made one change to their playing XI, bringing in Josh Tongue in place of Saqib Mahmood.India were forced into a number of changes, with Jasprit Bumrah ruled out after suffering reactive swelling in his left knee following an impact injury sustained during the second ODI in Cardiff.KL Rahul made a comeback after missing the previous match while Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh also came into the side. Washington Sundar was unavailable due to injury.

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Share an opinionIndian captain Shubman Gill admitted that he would prefer to bowl first.“We would have bowled. Boom missed out with a knee injury. KL, Prince and Arshdeep came in. We wanted to play with four seamers. We were in a great position and lost too many wickets,” Gill said.The Lord’s encounter also carried added significance with the ODI World Cup less than a year away. England will look to Joe Root to continue his excellent form after unbeaten knocks of 76 and 99 in the first two matches, while India will rely on veteran batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to lead them to a series win.However, before the cricket action began, the focus was on the memory of Sir Gary Sobers as both teams joined together to pay their respects to one of the sport’s most famous figures by wearing black armbands.