New Delhi: During the Boxing Day Test’s second day at Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Indian men’s cricket team sported black armbands on Friday, December 27. This was a mark of respect to honour the memory of Manmohan Singh, the former Indian Prime Minister, who sadly passed away the night before.
The Indian Cricket Team is wearing black armbands as a mark of respect to former Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh who passed away on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/nXVUHSaqel
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 27, 2024
“The Indian team is wearing black arm bands as a mark of respect in the memory of former PM Dr Manmohan Singh, who passed away,” the BCCI said in a statement.
Manmohan Singh, who served as India’s Prime Minister from 2004 through 2014, has unfortunately passed away. Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) informed the public of this sad news after he was rushed in a critical situation into the Emergency Department on Thursday, around half-past eight in the evening.
An AIIMS bulletin said “he (Singh) was treated for age related medical conditions and had sudden loss of consciousness at home” on December 26. “Resuscitative measures were started immediately at home. He was brought to medical emergency at AIIMS Delhi at 8.06 pm. Despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9.51 pm,” the bulletin said.
Day two in Melbourne saw Australia picking up the bat and starting out the vacation day with 311 runs for 6 wickets. Pat Cummins, the captain, teamed up with Steve Smith for an impressive 112-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Smith, who holds the fourth rank in Australia’s Test cricket for scoring maximum runs, notched up his 11th Test century versus India and a total of his 34th in the morning. He attained this high note with a boundary. What’s noteworthy here is that this is the second straight century for Smith and he’s now the record-holder for scoring the most centuries against India in Tests, dethroning England’s Joe Root who scored 10 centuries in 30 Tests against India.
During his time at the wicket, Cummins impressively smashed 49 runs from just 63 deliveries, pelting the boundary with seven fours. Unfortunately, his innings came to an end when Ravindra Jadeja got him out on the very first delivery of the 105th over in Australia’s initial innings.
