A moment of silence was observed ahead of the first ball of the India vs England 3rd match at Lord’s in London. Players and officials lined up for a minute’s silence. Blacks armbands are on every cricketer’s arm. Why?
The armbands were donned, and a minute’s silence was observed because of the passing of Sir Garfield Sobers. In the moment of grief, West Indies cricket legends Brian Lara and Clive Lloyd were in the house to pay respect to the passing icon.
India and England cricketers wearing black armbands at Lord’s
Former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh rang Lord’s cricket stadium’s iconic bell to mark the start of the match. India bowls first; England to bat in the first innings.
Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell take the stands for the England National Cricket Team to open the innings. Arshdeep Singh has the new ball in hand to start the match.
A perfectly observed minute’s silence for one of the greats of the game, Sir Garfield Sobers 🖤 pic.twitter.com/Pi8ZJD2tSG
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 19, 2026
The match is equally important for both India and England as the three-match ODI series is balanced at 1-1 after the second match in Cardiff, where England emerged as the winner. In the opening fixture of the series, it was India who opened the account first.
Team India have to make three changes in their playing XI, including the omission of Jasprit Bumrah, who was in form for the team. In place of Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh has joined the combination in the must-win contest. Bumrah has been ruled out of the match because of a knee injury he received in Cardiff during the second ODI against England.
“Jasprit Bumrah had an impact injury on his left knee while fielding in the second ODI in Cardiff. He was not available for selection for the third ODI due to reactive swelling in his left knee, ” the BCCI issued a release to inform about the change.
Along with Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube are the tw otherplayers who have been dropped from the side. In place of Sundar and Dube, KL Rahul and Prince Yadav are on the field for the Men in Blue.
The toss went in favor of England and their captain, Harry Brook, elected to bat first. According to some interesting facts, in the last few matches at this ground, batting first team got wins in most of the cases.
According to the stats shared by Cricbuzz, Lord’s has hosted five ODIs after the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup final. In those five matches, all of the by the side batting first with win margins of 52 runs, 100 runs, 100 runs, 186 runs, and five runs.