The much anticipated test series between India and South Africa kicked off today at the Centurion. India won the toss and opted to bat first. As the match started, an interesting thing that was noted by the fans was that the South African players were wearing black armbands on their hands.
Black armbands and ribbons have become quite common in Worldwide sports now. We usually see players or teams wearing them in support of some movement or protest, or in grievance of some incident or accident, or the passing away of some famous personality.
It was later revealed that South Africa are wearing the black armband to mourn the passing away of their archbishop Desmond Tutu. He was quite a renowned figure not only in South Africa but in the entire world. He was awarded with the Nobel peace prize back in 1984. He passed away on 26th December 2021.
Desmond Tutu was much of a revolutionary and fought for the oppressed. He is a beloved personality in South Africa.
South African captain Dean Elgar looked pretty confident in the pre-match conference. Speaking about their preparation, he said, “Nice and relaxed and looking forward to what is going to be a brilliant Test series. We had a good week’s camp in Johannesburg. We are prepared as best as we could. There’s a debutant in Marco Jansen. Tall left-arm bowler who bowled well against India A. Mulder as all-rounder. Kesh is our spinner. KG, Lungi and Marco are the pacers.”
South Africa (Playing XI): Dean Elgar(c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock(w), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
South African players spotted wearing black armbands against India – Here’s why
