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India is in the middle of national mourning after the passing away of legendary Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar on Sunday morning. While no official entertainment will be scheduled for a period of 48 hours, Team India's ODI series opener against the West Indies will go ahead as scheduled at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
However, BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla confirmed that the team will don black armbands when they step on to the field on Sunday in memory of the Bharat Ratna that the nation lost today. In addition, the flag will fly at half-mast in sync with the national mourning protocols.
"Indian Players will sport black armbands in the first ODI against West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium to condole the demise of Lata Mangeshkar. The national flag will fly at half-mast," Shukla told news agency ANI.
India to play 1000th ODI today
Following the demise of the singer who was famously known as the "Nightingale of India" cricketers and sportspersons have been sharing their condolences on social media. The "Aaj Phir Jeene ki Tamnna hai" singer has served "not less than 25,000 solo, duet and chorus backed songs in 20 Indian languages" as per a media report and was active even till the last decade.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma-led India is set to play its 1000th ODI match today. The Men in Blue will also become the first team to achieve this feat as soon as the toss is completed and the Playing XIs are out. While the Indian team has been hit by COVID-19, the West Indies will believe they can have a good practice before the 2023 World Cup in similar conditions next year.
Notably, the ODI World next year is to be held in India and the Ahmedabad stadium is almost guaranteed of being one of the hosts for the same, given it is the largest cricket stadium in the world. Following the 3 ODIs, the two teams are set to play as many T20Is in this home series.
