Players from India and England paid tribute to cricket legend Sir Gary Sobers by wearing black armbands during the third and final ODI at Lord’s on Sunday, two days after the West Indies great passed away.The gesture came ahead of the series decider between the two sides at the iconic venue, with both teams honouring one of the game’s greatest-ever all-rounders. Sobers, widely regarded as one of cricket’s finest players, died on Friday, prompting tributes from across the cricketing world.The players took the field wearing black armbands as a mark of respect before the start of play in London.The tribute preceded an important contest, with India and England entering the third ODI level at 1-1 after sharing the opening two matches of the series.England captain Harry Brook won the toss and elected to bat first, backing his side to make the most of what he believed would be a good batting surface.“We’re going to have a bat today. It looks like a good surface; hopefully, we can get a decent score on the board and put them under pressure,” Brook said at the toss.England made one change to their playing XI, bringing in Josh Tongue in place of Saqib Mahmood.India were forced into multiple changes, with Jasprit Bumrah ruled out after suffering reactive swelling in his left knee following an impact injury sustained while fielding during the second ODI in Cardiff.KL Rahul returned after missing the previous match, while Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh also came into the side. Washington Sundar was unavailable because of injury.
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India captain Shubman Gill admitted he would have preferred to bowl first.“We would have bowled. Boom misses out due to a knee injury. KL, Prince and Arshdeep come in. We were looking to play four seamers. We were in a great position and lost too many wickets,” Gill said.The Lord’s encounter also carried added significance with the ODI World Cup less than a year away. England will look to Joe Root to continue his outstanding form after unbeaten knocks of 76 and 99 in the first two matches, while India will bank on experienced campaigners Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to guide them to a series-clinching victory.Before the cricketing action began, however, the focus was on remembering Sir Gary Sobers, as both teams united in paying their respects to one of the sport’s most celebrated figures by wearing black armbands.
