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The Indian Cricket Team was seen sporting black armbands on Tuesday during the first semi-final of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in honour of the late Padmakar Shivalkar.
Padmakar Shivalkar, one of the greatest Indian cricketers who was unlucky not to have played for the national team, passed away in Mumbai on Monday at the age of 84. A legendary left-arm spinner, Shivalkar was a dominant force in domestic cricket and a key figure in Bombay's Ranji Trophy dominance. He played a crucial role in 10 of Bombay's victorious Ranji Trophy campaigns from 1965-66 to 1976-77, during which the team won the title in every season except one. He was also part of the squad that reclaimed the championship in 1980-81. Remarkably, he made a comeback at the age of 47 and played two matches in the 1987-88 season. Since India won its quarter-final game at the 2011 World Cup, the two sides have faced each other four times in the ICC ODI tournaments. India and Australia have won two games each. India's victories came in the round-robin matches at the 2019 and 2023 World Cups. On the other hand, their heartbreaking defeats unfolded in the 2015 semi-finals and the 2023 final. Since their last encounter on November 19, 2023, there has been a complete difference between the two sides that will line up on Tuesday in front of a vibrant crowd in Dubai. Speaking of the clash, Australia skipper Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first against the Rohit Sharma-led team. Teams: Australia (Playing XI): Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha. India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy. (ANI)
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