In order to celebrate India’s contribution in World War 1, the Royal British Legion along with Surrey Cricket Club played a game of cricket during lunch on day 5 of the fifth Test between India and England.
The match was a reenactment of a cricket match played on the Western Front between the Royal Manchester Regiment and the Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army. Earlier, both the skipper – Virat Kohli and Joe Root – were the first people to wear the special khadi poppy at the start of Day 3 the Test match.
Today at @surreycricket England & India’s Cricket teams are saying Thank You for the British & Indian contributions to #WW1. England captain @root66 & India Captain @imVkohli are pictured here wearing the Khadi Poppy, a fabric made famous by Mahatma Gandhi. #ENGvIND #ThankYou100 pic.twitter.com/NWvMMTbgat
— Royal British Legion (@PoppyLegion) September 9, 2018
Talking about the same, Chief Executive of Surrey County Cricket Club, Richard Gould, said: “Surrey is proud to be partnering with The Royal British Legion to help commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.”
Thanks to @surreycricket for having us at #ENGvIND today and helping us highlight the contribution of the #Commonwealth during #WW1 #ThankYou100 pic.twitter.com/AV3wrnvmo8
— Royal British Legion (@PoppyLegion) September 9, 2018
He further elaborated, “Our country owes more to the sacrifices of this generation than it is possible to express and this anniversary seems a particularly appropriate time to say ‘Thank You’. Through ‘The 48’ and the events being held during the Test Match, the club is honored to be doing its bit to help a very important national campaign.”
At the outbreak of #WW1, The Empire covered ~¼ of the 🌍 & 👨👩👧👦. From the Raj there was a massive outburst of support. 🇬🇧🇮🇳🇵🇰🇧🇩🇱🇰🇲🇲
Join us in saying #ThankYou100 to the @Commonwealth_Sec & recognising those from #SouthAsia. 🙏
▶️ https://t.co/XGKvHkThvZ pic.twitter.com/1xrQ0tG3ke
— Royal British Legion (@PoppyLegion) September 7, 2018
Director General of The Royal British Legion, Charles Byrne, said: “The First World War left so many legacies that positively impact our lives today, from ground-breaking social change to pioneering innovations. I am very grateful to Surrey County Cricket Club for commemorating the Legion’s ‘Thank You’ movement during such an important game of cricket between England and India.”
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On the third day, the visitors put the hard fight but England is still in the strong position. India began the day on their overnight score 174/6, and both the overnight unbeaten batsmen Hanuma Vihari and Ravindra Jadeja provided a good partnership for the fight back. At the end of the day, Alastair Cook is not out on 46 runs while Joe Root remains unbeaten on 29 runs as England was 114/2 at the stumps on day three. England is currently leading by 154 runs.
