Michael Vaughan praises Team India for donning camouflage caps in Ranchi ODI

Team India came up with a special initiative in their third ODI against Australia in Ranchi on Friday by sporting army camouflage caps as a mark of tribute to the martyrs of the Pulwama suicide terror attack of February 14. A senior member of the side MS Dhoni handed over the caps to the players before the start of the match at his hometown and the move was appreciated by many, including former England captain Michael Vaughan.

Over 40 CRPF personnel were martyred when a suicide terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the bus that was carrying them in a convoy on Jammu-Srinagar highway. The incident led to a massive outrage throughout the country with even some members of the cricketing fraternity voicing boycotting the game against Pakistan in the upcoming World Cup. Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the dastardly attack. Two weeks after the tragedy, the two countries engaged in air skirmishes worsening their relations more.

Indian players also donate their match fees to National Defence Fund

At the toss, India captain Virat Kohli said the special cap was to show respect to the martyrs of Pulwama attack and that the players also decided to donate their match fees received from the Ranchi game to the National Defence Fund. “I, as the captain of the team, would urge everyone in the country to do the same, donate how much ever they can to the National Defence Fund and help in the education and well-being of the families and the children of those who lost their lives in the attack,” he said.

Vaughan took to Twitter to praise the Indian team saying it was really good to see a sporting team extend support to the armed forces.

Here is Vaughan’s tweet

Cricket commentator and analyst Harsha Bhogle also tweeted about the unique initiative and said there was little surprise that it was one taken by Dhoni. A two-minute silence in the memory of the martyrs was also observed by the players ahead of the first T20I between India and Australia in Visakhapatnam last month.

Talking about the game, Kohli asked Australia to bat first and powered by openers Usman Khawaja’s 104 and Aaron Finch’s 93, the visitors registered 313 for 5 in their 50 overs.

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