 "Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad players observe a minute's silence ahead of their IPL match at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Image credit: Screengrab/JioHotstar")
Players wore black armbands and observed a minute’s silence during Wednesday’s Indian Premier League match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians in memory of the victims of the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam , Jammu and Kashmir. The dastardly attack in the Kashmir Valley led to the loss of 26 lives, a majority of whom were tourists including a couple of foreign nationals.
Besides the players wearing black armbands, the IPL is also paying tribute to the victims of the Pahalgam attack with the SRH-MI match having no cheerleaders or fireworks.
Pandya and Cummins pay tribute to Pahalgam victims during SRH-MI toss
The two teams lined up to observe the minute’s silence at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium ahead of start of play. This was after MI captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field.
Both Pandya and his SRH counterpart Pat Cummins paid tribute to the victims of Tuesday’s attack during the toss.
“I would like to firstly pass my condolences to the victims of the terrorist attack. We as a team and a franchise condemn any such attacks,” Pandya said after opting to field.
“It has been heartbreaking for us as well, our thoughts are with the victims and their families,” Cummins added.
Batting star Virat Kohli too had condemned the attack while expressing his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the attack.
“Deeply saddened by the heinous attack in Pahalgam on innocent people. Heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. Praying for peace and strength to families of all those who lost their lives and justice to be served for this cruel act,” Kohli wrote on Instagram Stories.
India Test and ODI skipper Rohit Sharma, who is set to feature in the upcoming SRH-MI game in Hyderabad, had shared a heart-break and a folded hands emoji on Instagram stories in response to the attack.