A new era of Indian cricket is kickstarting today (June 20) with the first-ever match of the newly launched Anderson-Tendulkar trophy at the Headingley Cricket Stadium in Leeds, as the England Cricket Team hosts India in the first match of a marquee five-match Test series. Players of both teams are taking the field while wearing black armbands.

The reason behind the gesture is to pay tribute to the victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash. For those unversed, an Air India Flight (AI 171) travelling from the Indian city of Ahmedabad to the capital of England, London (Gatwick airport), crashed on June 12, seconds after it took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai International airport.

241 of the 242 people on board lost their lives, while several people also died and were injured in the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad, which the plane struck. Among the victims, 159 people were Indian, while 53 were from the United Kingdom. Seven people were from Portugal, while 1 person on board was Canadian. The lone survivor was a British national too. The two teams also observed a moment of silence.

"Both teams will wear black armbands today as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in the Air India plane crash. Out thoughts are with all those affected by the terrible events that took place in Ahmedabad last week," said the England Cricket Board in a statement.

A similar gesture was observed on Day 3 of the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final between Australia and South Africa at Lord's last week and by the Indian team during their intra-squad match in Beckenham.

Talking about the match, Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl first. India handed a debut to Sai Sudharsan while Karun Nair returned to the gap after eight years. Shardul Thakur got the nod as the fourth pacer, meaning Ravindra Jadeja is the only spinner in the team as there was no place for Kuldeep Yadav. Dhurv Jurel and Nitsh Kumar Reddy also missed out. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna are the three specialist pacers.

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