WTC final: Team India don black armbands to honour late Milkha Singh

WTC final: Team India dons black armbands to pay tribute to late Milkha Singh

The World Test Championship finals between India and New Zealand finally got underway in Southampton after Day 1 of the contest was abandoned due to rain. 

Team India openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, who were invited to bat first by Kane Williamson, were seen wearing black armbands on their jersey. 

BCCI in a tweet confirmed, the team is wearing the same to pay homeage to legendary sprinter Milkha Singh, who breathed his last on Friday night. The former athlete was 91-year-old. 

Milkha passed away in Chandigarh's PGIMER due to COVID-19 complications. The 'Flying Sikh', a name given to the legendary sprinter, had tested negative for the virus on Wednesday, but his health deteriorated on Friday following a dip in his oxygen saturation level. 

#TeamIndia is wearing black armbands in remembrance of Milkha Singhji, who passed away due to COVID-19. #WTC21

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 19, 2021

Meanwhile, it is being predicted there are chances of scattered rains in the second half of the day.

India have so far got off to a great start, with both Gill and Rohit playing cautiously and have added over 40 runs for the first wicket.

PLAYING XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling(w), Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Neil Wagner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult