Explained: Why South Africa and Australia players are wearing black armband during WTC 2025 final at Lord's

Mayank Bande

Explained: Why South Africa and Australia players are wearing black armband during WTC 2025 final at Lord's image

(getty)

Kagiso Rabada Ryan Rickleton black armbands Australia South Africa WTC Final The Lord's

On Friday, June 13, Australia and South Africa took the field for Day 3 and probably the final of the World Test Championship Final at The Lord's.

Notably, players from both teams and the umpires were seen wearing the black armbands as they came in with Australia 144/8 with a lead of 218 runs to defend their title.

Follow The Sporting News India on WhatsApp

The players, umpires, commentators and the crowd also observed a minute of silence ahead of the first ball of the match.

In this article, we take explore the reason behind Australia and South Africa wearing the black armband at the Lord's.

READ MORE: AUS vs SA WTC 2025 Final: Live updates

Why are Australia and South Africa wearing the black armband in the WTC Final?

As per Nasser Hussain in the commentary box, the teams, umpires and everyone else observed a moment of silence in the WTC Final with black armbands around their arm as they mourned the tragedy in Ahmedabad on the afternoon of June 13.

An Air India flight that was en route from Ahmedabad to London had unfortunately crashed down in a residential area just moments after takeoff, leaving only one survivor behind.

Mayank Bande

Mayank Bande has been a content producer at The Sporting News since 2023 and has extensive experience in cricket writing. His work has previously appeared on platforms like OneCricket and Last Word on Sports. Beyond cricket, Mayank closely follows football as an FC Barcelona supporter, along with tennis and Olympic sports. Despite holding a degree in Business Administration, he chose to pursue a career in sports, bringing sharp analysis to his writing as someone who once played cricket.