Melbourne: More than three months after his death, Dean Jones was paid another tribute at his home ground here by Indian and Australian players, who were joined by his wife, daughters and the legendary Allan Border in remembering the effervescent former player on Saturday.
Jones' family and former Australia captain Border participated in the farewell during the tea break of the ongoing second Test.
Border, Jones' wife Jane, and daughters - Augusta and Phoebe - took a long walk from the boundary of the Melbourne Cricket Ground to the centre, carrying his baggy green, sunglasses and Kookaburra bat and laid the items to rest on the stumps at the Great Southern Stand end of the ground.
A special moment at the MCG in memory of Dean Jones 🙏 pic.twitter.com/QO504NboHi
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 26, 2020
Later, 12th men from both sides - KL Rahul (India) and James Pattinson (Australia) - collected the items and rested them on a seat by the boundary.
The gesture was applauded by the 30,000 spectators present at the MCG.
Jones died in September this year at the age of 59 in Mumbai, where he was commentating for the Indian Premier League, after suffering a stroke.
Former Australian cricketer Brett Lee, who was with Jones during his final hours had tried to revive him, but could not.
"It's quite fitting the tribute was done during Australia vs India. He's loved over there," Lee told Fox Sports.
Earlier after winning the toss, Australia skipper Tim Paine led from the front with with a number of players entering the MCG wearing zinc on their bottom lips, a look that Jones was famous for.
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Natarajan, who came in as a net bowler, joined fellow rookies Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur to restrict Australia to 369, which according to Rohit is no mean feat.
It has been an emotional series for the 26-year-old, who lost his father in November and welled up with tears during the national anthems in Sydney.
The short ball to get rid of Steve Smith was his favourite among the 13 wickets in the series, along with the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne.