Team India Players Wear Black Armbands In Memory Of Bapu Nadkarni

Team India stars, on Sunday, came out on the field wearing black armbands to lock horns against Australia in the ongoing third ODI in Bengaluru. The three-match series is currently locked at 1-1 and the ongoing match will decide the outcome of the series. Contrary to the popular expectations, the series did not start on an expected note as Australia thrashed India by ten wickets.

But India did not take long to bounce back as they thrashed the visitors by 36 runs in the do-or-die second match to draw level in the series. India put up a good batting show in the previous game and scored a mammoth total of 340 for 6. The bowlers, who went wicketless in the first ODI, then made sure to complement the batsmen’s effort by bowling out the visitors for 304.

Also Read: Mushfiqur Rahim Explains Why He Refused To Tour Pakistan

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli & Co. came out on the field while wearing black armbands after Australia skipper Aaron Finch won the toss once again and decided to bat first. The Men in Blue wore the bands as a mark of respect on passing away of former India allrounder Bapu Nadkarni. The legendary cricketer passed away on Friday due to age-related ailments at the age of 86.

Bapu Nadkarni made his India debut in December 1955 and went on to play 41 Test matches. He scored 1,414 runs at an average of 25.70 and picked up 88 wickets at 29.07. But what defined his career best was his economy rate of 1.67, the second-best in history among all bowlers with 50 or more Test wickets. Bapu Nadkarni recorded Test match figures of 32-24-23-0 against Pakistan at Kanpur and 34-24-24-1 in Delhi during the 1960-61 home series.

In his Test career, Bapu Nadkarni took four Test-match five-fors with his left-arm spin, including a match-winning 6 for 43 in Wellington, during India’s historic tour of New Zealand in 1967-68, when they won their first-ever overseas series. He played his last-ever Test on that tour only.

He was a handy batsman too. Bapu Nadkarni scored seven fifties and one hundred, an unbeaten 122 against England in Kanpur. He averaged 40.36 with the bat in first-class cricket, with 14 centuries. Bapu Nadkarni also scalped 500 wickets in 191 first-class appearances.