India and England players both were seen wearing black armbands during the opening day of the second Test match between the two sides going on at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The move was a tribute to former England cricketer Wayne Larkins, who passed away on June 28.
"Both teams are wearing black armbands to pay their respects to Wayne Larkins - the former England Cricketer, who has sadly passed away. There was a moment's applause before the start of play on Day 1 of the second Test in Birmingham," BCCI stated in an update.
Who was Wayne Larkins?
Larkins was an opening batter who represented England in 13 Test matches and 25 ODIs between 1979 and 1991. He was part of the England side during the 1979 World Cup. A First Class legend, Larkins scored over 27000 runs playing four-day cricket majorly for Northamptonshire.
Larkins' wife, Debbie had also paid an emotional tribute on the Northamptonshire website. She wrote: "Ned loved everyone he met, and everyone loved him. People were drawn to his infectious energy. He lit up every room and never wanted the party to finish."
"He loved his soul mate of a wife and his precious daughters so much. He will be partying up in the sky, drinking a toast to everyone and to his own life. We are devastated, but we'll never forget his undeniably unique presence and his impact on our lives," she added.
India Vs England, 2nd Test: Playing XIs
England won the toss and decided to bowl first in the second Test.
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
