IND vs ENG 1st Test: Why are India, England players wearing black armbands on Day 1 of Headingley Test?

Indian cricket team players were spotted wearing black armbands as they gathered in the middle of the Headingley stadium in Leeds for the national anthems ahead of the first Test against England . Team India players and their English counterparts were wearing black armbands as a tribute to the people who lost their lives in the plane crash in Ahmedabad last week.

The players from both teams – Indian and England – also observed a one-minute silence to pay tribute to the victims of the deadly plane crash.

The Air India Flight 171, which took off from Ahmedabad for London Gatwick Airport, crashed shortly after takeoff on 12 June, killing 241 passengers. Only one passenger survived the crash.

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Earlier, South African and Australian players also wore black armbands during the World Test Championship final at Lord’s.

Coming to India’s match.  England won the toss and opted to bowl first in the first game of the five-match series.

Sai Sudharsan, who scored over 700 runs in IPL 2025, has been handed his Test debut by India, while Karun Nair is back in the Test team after a gap of over seven years.

India vs England 1st Test playing XIs

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir