Here’s why India cricket team players wore black armbands during Nagpur T20

India cricket team players wore armbands during their T20 match against England in Nagpur as a mark of respect for U-19 team fitness trainer Rajesh Sawant and pacer Mohammed Shami’s father.

India cricket team players stepped into the VCA Stadium in Nagpur wearing black armbands to condole the recent deaths of India U-19 team fitness trainer Rajesh Sawant and pacer Mohammed Shami’s father, on Sunday.

India cricket team skipper Virat Kohli sporting the black armband before the T20 encounter against England in Nagpur. (BCCI)

India under-19 team trainer Rajesh Sawant was found dead in his hotel room in Mumbai on Sunday morning after suffering a cardiac arrest. Sawant was also part of the Rest of India side that beat Gujarat in the Irani Cup last week. Sawant was supposed to report for training ahead of the U-19 side’s first ODI against England on January 30, but didn’t show up.

Two days ago, Shami’s father Tousif Ali had also passed away after suffering a heart attack, forcing the cricketer to leave his rehab with the T20 team and rush to Amroha. The pacer’s father had been hospitalised since January 5 when he had first suffered a heart attack.

India pulled off a five-run victory in a last-ball thriller over England in the T20I encounter on Sunday night to level the three-match series.