India vs Australia: Hosts tribute to Pulwama martyrs touches Sachin Tendulkar

Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has made a heartwarming remark after seeing Team India stars sporting camouflaged caps for their third ODI against Australia in Ranchi on Friday. The whole nation was in a for a sweet surprise when their beloved cricketers decided to go ahead and give the soldiers a fitting tribute. Before the start of the game, former India skipper MS Dhoni, who was conferred the rank of honorary Lieutenant Colonel by the Territorial Army, distributed special caps to the members of the team.

The tribute came on the back of the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir where 44 CRPF soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad on February 14. The BCCI and the players have done already done a lot to show their solidarity to the martyrs. The Indian cricket board has already announced that a part of the budget for the opening ceremony for the IPL, estimated to cost around INR 20 crore, would be donated to families of Pulwama martyrs.

Skipper Virat Kohli then won hearts all over by announcing the sweet gesture and also revealing that the players would donate their match fees from the game to the affected families. “This is to pay respect to the martyrs of the Pulwama attack and their families. All the players have decided to donate their match fees from this particular game to the National Defence Fund,” Kohli had said before the start of the game.

And the team’s gesture made Tendulkar a bit emotional as he took to Twitter to pay tribute to the Indian team’s act with a touching tweet. “This one touched my heart. @BCCI,” wrote Tendulkar while re-tweeting BCCI’s message that explained the reason behind the gesture.

Here is Sachin’s tweet

India lose the third ODI:

While the third ODI started on a great note for the players and the fans, the same cannot be said about how it ended. India lost the third ODI by 32 runs while chasing 314 despite Kohli’s sublime innings of 123. India, however, still lead the five-match series 2-1. Both the teams will be locking horns against each other once again in the fourth ODI on Sunday.

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