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‘Great gesture’ – Fans react as India and Australia wear black armbands in WTC final to pay respects to Odisha train accident victims

India won their last two tours which were in Australia.

Jun 7, 2023 5:08 pm

Rohit Sharma black armbands (Source: Twitter)

Rohit Sharma black armbands (Source: Twitter)

India and Australia are currently playing the World Test Championship final (WTC). In the game, the teams from both sides were seen wearing black armbands to pay respects to the victims of the Odisha train accident. The collision which took place in Odisha’s Balasore on June 2 between two express passenger trains and a stopped freight train has given rise to at least 275 fatalities, as per the most recent official statistics, and caused more than 1,000 injuries. The incident is perhaps the deadliest train accident on record in the last 20 years.

Meanwhile, India is playing their second WTC final and they lost the WTC final in 2021 to New Zealand. Australia is the number one ranked side in Test cricket at the moment. India, on the other hand, is number two in the rankings. India and Australia faced each other recently at the Border-Gavaskar trophy which was played in March in India. The Rohit Sharma-led side beat the Kangaroos in that 4-match Test series to win it 2-1.

India has not won a world event in nine years after 2013

In the last two series in Australia, India has registered victories. India won in Australia 2-1 under the leadership of Virat Kohli in 2018. Then in 2021, India again won 2-1 down under in 2021 under Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy. The Indians have had a good showing in recent tours to Australia and also in England where the series ended in a 2-2 stalemate. The WTC final will be a big Test for Rohit Sharma as he will want to win a World event after India missed out at the 2022 20-20 World Cup in Australia.

India has had a 9-year world event drought. The Men in Blue last won a world event in 2013 under the leadership of MS Dhoni. India will also have the ODI World Cup on home soil which will take place later on in the year. The last time the 50-over World Cup was held in India was in 2011. The Indian team will want to take the initiative in this do-or-die clash and create history by winning the WTC trophy.