On April 2, 2023, the IPL 2023 saw Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) hosting the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their tournament openers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad. However, players from both teams were seen wearing black armbands.
The black armbands will be worn in mourning for the death of former India cricketer Salim Durani, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 88. Durani, who played for India between 1960 to 1973, was known for his explosive batting and left-arm spin bowling.
Durani played 29 Tests for India and took 75 wickets, with the best bowling figure of 10 for 177. With the bat in hand, he scored 1202 runs with the highest score of 104 against West Indies in 1962.
.@SunRisers & @rajasthanroyals and the match officials observe silence to pay respects to the late Salim Durani. pic.twitter.com/alTAAhauoK
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 2, 2023
The cricketer, who was born in Kabul in 1934, played 170 FC matches scoring 8545 runs with 14 centuries with the best of 137*, and picked 484 wickets with the best of 8/99.
The star cricketer also dabbled in Bollywood, starring opposite renowned actor Praveen Babi in the movie Charitra in 1973.
He was also the first cricketer to receive Arjuna Award and was the only Afghanistan-born cricketer, Durani was present during historic India vs Afghanistan Test match on 14 June 2018. He was awarded the C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award by the BCCI in 2011.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar Of SRH Wins The Toss And Chooses To Bowl First
Meanwhile, SRH stand-in captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar won the toss and chose to bowl first. For SRH, Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips, Mayank Agarwal and Adil Rashid made their debuts. For RR, Jason Holder and KM Asif got their debut caps.
Sunrisers Hyderabad XI: Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips (wk), Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (c), Adil Rashid, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Umran Malik, T Natarajan
Rajasthan Royals XI: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, KM Asif