Revealed: Why India women players are wearing black armbands in third ODI against South Africa

India Women and South Africa Women are clashing up with each other in the third game of the ODI series on Sunday (23rd June). The dead-rubber game between the two heavyweights is taking place at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

South African women won the toss and opted to bat first in the last game of the series. As the the teams walked out in the field, one thing that caught the attention of many was the black armbands that the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side were wearing in the ongoing game at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

The reason behind that has been revealed and they are doing so to pay their tribute to the former Indian fast bowler David Johnson, who passed away recently. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made an official confirmation about the same and stated: 

"Team India is wearing black armbands today in the third and final ODI against South Africa, in memory of former Indian fast bowler David Johnson, who passed away on Thursday." 

Team India is wearing black armbands today in the third and final ODI against South Africa, in memory of former Indian fast bowler David Johnson, who passed away on Thursday.#TeamIndia

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) June 23, 2024

David Johnson passed away at the age of 52 after falling from the fourth-floor balcony of his apartment. The former fast bowler was a decent contributor to the India team as he played two Tests for India in 1996. He also represented Karnataka in 39 First-Class and 33 List-A matches, taking 125 and 41 wickets respectively.

Coming to the series between, India Women and the South Africa Women, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side has already won the series by the margin of 2-1. They displayed fantastic performances in the first two games and provided great joy to the fans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

Smriti Mandhana has been the hero for India Women in the first two games. The opening batter has looked in sensational touch with the bat. She slammed two back-to-back centuries and helped her team win the game. Apart from the bat, she also chipped in with a wicket in the second game.

India Women won the first game quite comprehensively as they won the fiery game by a massive margin of 143 runs. In the second game, South Africa put up a great fight and came close but fell short of just 4 runs as the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side took an unassailable lead of 2-0.

In the ongoing game, they would be high on confidence and would want to win the game. After winning the toss and batting first, South Africa Women started solidly with the bat and they were 90/0 inside 18 overs at the time of writing this piece. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side would be eager to pull back things to restrict the opposition to a low total and complete the whitewash in the series.

India and South Africa Women playing 11 for the third ODI 

Here's the playing 11 of South African women: 

Wolvaardt(c), Tazmin Brits, Anneke Bosch, Sune Luus, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Nondumiso Shangase, Mieke de Ridder(w), Tumi Sekhukhune, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka 

Here's the playing 11 of Indian women: 

Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Priya Punia, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil