India and Australia are currently locking horns with each other in teh series decider of the three-match ODI series at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The visitors won the toss, and unlike the first two games decided to bat after failing to chase 341 in the previous encounter. Meanwhile, the Indian players were happy to chase and strolled into the ground with black armbands which caught the attention of the many in the stadium.
The reason for the Indian players donning the black armbands for the demise of India’s former all-rounder Bapu Nadkarni. Bapu, 86, took his last breathe on Friday due to age-related ailments. He was best known for bowling 21 consecutive maiden overs in a Test match against England in Madras in 1964 and it is still a world record in the longest format of the game.
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Even in the 1960-61 series against Pakistan, Nadkarni boasted of the figures of 32-24-23-0 in Kanpur, followed by 34-24-24-1 in Delhi. Team India is wearing black armbands to pay the tribute to the great all-rounder and is a contribution to the Indian cricket. Nadkarni played 41 Test matches for India scoring 1414 runs at an average of 25.70 and picked 88 wickets which also included 4 five-wicket hauls and a 10-match wicket haul.
#TeamIndia shall sport black band today during the match as a mark of respect on passing away of Shri #BapuNadkarni Ji. –@BCCI#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/TV3XDiKG7k
— Udit Goel (@goel_udit) January 19, 2020
Meanwhile, for the much-awaited decider, India decided to go unchanged XI after winning the second ODI and leveling the series. There was no update on Rishabh Pant’s fitness and availability but KL Rahul doing more than decent job in Rajkot which led to him continuing behind the stumps. Meanwhile, Australia decided to replace Kane Richardson with Josh Hazlewood.
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Richardson was dropped after an ordinary outing in Rajkot. He had gone for 73 runs in his spell of 10 overs and picked a couple of wickets. With the bat though he smashed some balls to add 24* off just 11 deliveries. Even in the series opener, Richardson was amongst the wickets returning with the bowling figures of 2/43 in 9.1 overs.
