IPL 2022: CSK and GT players wear black armbands to pay tribute to Andrew Symonds

The Chennai Super Kings are facing the Gujarat Titans in the 62nd match of the IPL 2022 hosted by the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The defending champions have already been knocked out of the playoff race, whereas the newbies became the first team to qualify for the playoff by winning nine games and bagging 18 points to stand on top of the leaderboard.

Amidst all the excitement, the players of the two teams are wearing black armbands in memory of the late Australian legend Andrew Symonds. One of the finest cricketers in the history of the game, Symonds passed away late on Saturday night in a tragic car crash. The two-time World Cup winner, who was survived by his wife and two children, breathed his last at the age of 46, and the cricketing fraternity was taken back by the shock.

He was one of the finest all-rounders that the Australian team had ever witnessed. He was a key player for the team in all the departments and wreaked havoc on the field with his batting skills during his playing days.

Symonds made his debut in the year 1998, and soon became a regular in the team owing to his skills as an all-rounder. Throughout his career, he featured in 26 Test matches, 198 ODIs, and 14 T20Is thereby scalping 165 wickets and knocking 6887 international runs. He was a major component of Australia’s world cup winning set up in 2003 and 2007.

CSK make four changes while GT go unchanged

Coming back to the game, the Titans are in a winning form, and thus are playing with the same combination eyeing another victory. Chennai, on the other hand, have made four changes to the side. Matheesha Pathirana, the Sri Lankan who made his entry into the squad as the replacement of the injured Adam Milne, made his debut for the four-time champions.

Prashant Solanki is another youngster who received his IPL cap from the Yellow Army. Apart from the two debutants, Mitchell Santner and N Jagadeesan have been roped in for the game as Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, and Maheesh Theekshana have been rested.