New Delhi: Players and umpires will be wearing black armbands during the IPL 2025 clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians as a mark of paying homage to victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Sources have told IANS that apart from the black armbands, a one-minute silence will also be observed before the game begins at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday evening.
In addition, it is also understood that cheerleaders will not be present in the stadium for the match, and the usual fireworks show after an IPL game is over, will be omitted as well from the MI-SRH clash.
On Tuesday afternoon, at least 16 people, including tourists and locals, were killed while around 17 others were injured when terrorists began firing at them in the scenic Baisaran Valley, located approximately six kilometres away from Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.
A widespread condemnation of the heinous terror attack, the deadliest act of violence since the 2019 Pulwama tragedy, and condolences for the victims, and their anguished families came from international leaders, as well as by notable figures in the cricketing world and prominent people from other industries.
Coming to the match, a win for Hardik Pandya-led MI, who are currently at sixth place in the points table, will help them level with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at ten points and pave their way back to the upper half of the tally.
If the Pat Cummins-led SRH manage to win at home, they are expected to jump past Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the points table. The last time these two teams met in the competition, MI outclassed SRH by four wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on April 17.
(IANS)
