IND vs AUS, 1st ODI: 'Men In Blue' Don Black Armbands To Pay Tribute To Dean Jones, Phillip Hughes

'Men In Blue' who donned a darkish blue playing jersey for the first time in over two decades wore black armbands and observed a moment of silence to pay tribute to Dean Jones and Phillip Hughes.

TeamIndia are sporting black armbands to pay their tributes to Dean Jones and in memory of Phillip Hughes, who passed away on this day six years ago (Image: BCCI Twitter Handle)

Ahead of the start of the first ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), the Indian team paid tribute to deceased Australian cricketers Dean Jones and Phillip Hughes. 'Men In Blue' who donned a darkish blue playing jersey for the first time in over two decades wore black armbands and observed a moment of silence to pay tribute to Dean Jones and Phillip Hughes. While former Australian ODI batting great Jones passed away due to a heart attack aged 53, Phil Hughes succumbed to a fatal neck injury on Nov 27, 2014 after being struck by a lethal bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG on November 25, 2014. The official Twitter handle of the BCCI shared a post where Team India donned black armbands as a mark of respect for both Jones and Hughes.

#TeamIndia are sporting black armbands to pay their tributes to Dean Jones and in memory of Phillip Hughes, who passed away on this day six years ago.#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/0O8wJT5VIq

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 27, 2020

Aaron Finch-led Australia won the toss and decided to bat against India in the 1st ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday (November 27). As per latest reports, Australia had built a strong foundation at the halfway-mark of their innings on the back of a century stand by openers Aaron Finch and David Warner. At the toss, Virat Kohli stated, "It's important to start well as a team, we need to start strongly and set the momentum for the matches ahead. The preparations have been nice, we got some valuable time (on account of the quarantine). Mayank Agarwal will open - Manish Pandey, Shubman Gill, Shardul Thakur, Natarajan and Sanju Samson are the five players missing out."