Indian cricketers wear black armbands on Day 2 in Melbourne to honour former PM Manmohan Singh

The Indian players took the field on Day 2 of the fourth Test against Australia at the MCG in Melbourne wearing black armbands as a mark of respect for former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who died at the age of 92 on Thursday (December 26). Singh was admitted to New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences late Thursday after his health deteriorated due to a “sudden loss of consciousness at home,” the hospital said in a statement.

“Resuscitative measures were started immediately at home. He was brought to the Medical Emergency” at 8:06 p.m., the hospital said, but “despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9:51 p.m.”

Singh was being treated for “age-related medical conditions,” the statement said.

A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh became one of India’s longest-serving Prime Ministers for 10 years and leader of the Congress Party in the Parliament’s Upper House, earning a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. He was chosen to fill the role in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

India off to sloppy start on Day 2

India were off to a sloppy start on Friday. needing four wickets to wrap up Australia’s first innings, India’s pacers, barring Jasprit Bumrah, were all over the place in the first half an hour, giving easy runs to overnight batters Steve Smith and Pat Cummins. The lapses in the field also didn’t help their cause. A much better show was expected from the visitors after they fought back with four late wickets to leave Australia on 311 for six on day one on Thursday after teen debutant Sam Konstas had lit up the MCG with a thrilling knock.

Tempers rose in the blazing heat in front of a bumper Boxing Day crowd of 87,242, with Virat Kohli booed by home fans after bumping shoulders with Konstas on the pitch after the 19-year-old smashed India’s bowlers around the park early on.

Konstas shrugged off the clash on the way to scoring 60 from 65 balls as Australia’s top order rewarded captain Pat Cummins’s decision to bat after he won the toss.