Air India plane crash: Australia, South Africa players pay homage to Ahmedabad victims during WTC 2025 final at Lord's

Players from both Australia and South Africa along with the match officials observed a minutes silence before the start of third day's play in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's in solidarity with the lives lost in the tragic Ahmedabad place crash on Thursday. The players and officials were also seen wearing black armbands as a part of homage to the 241 victims who lost their lives.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) shared a video of the same with a caption that read, “The cricketing world, led by South Africa and Australia, stands together to observe a moment of silence in honour of the lives lost in the Ahmedabad tragedy.”

A similar gesture was observed before the intra-squad clash between India A and India Test side. “The players and members of support staff involved in the intra-squad game in Beckenham are wearing black armbands,” the BCCI said in a statement.

“A minute's silence was also observed today to pay homage to the victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash, as a mark of respect for the lives lost and solidarity with the affected families,” the post added.

What happened in Ahmedabad? 

The Boeing 787-8 aircraft, carrying 242 people, including 12 crew members, went down at 1:38 PM on Thursday near Ahmedabad airport, ramming into a doctors' hostel in the Meghani area shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Air India said that among he 230 passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian national. Only one miraculously survived. 

How is WTC 2025 final is placed at?

At the time of writing, Australia are placed at 186/9 in 57 overs in the WTC final 2025, leading by 260 runs in the second innings. Earlier, South Africa were bowled out for 138 runs in reply to Australia's first innings total of  212.