ZCZC
BSP-16
CRICKET-IND-AUS-ARMY-CONFLICT
Indian cricketers wear military caps to honour slain soldiers
RANCHI, India, March 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The Indian cricket team wore
military camouflage caps in their one-day game against Australia on Friday to
pay tribute to 40 paramilitary troops killed in a suicide bomb attack in
disputed Kashmir.
Virat Kohli’s team will also donate their $8,500 match fees from the game
— being played in the eastern city of Ranchi — to a fund for the families
of those killed in last month’s attack.
Former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni handed out the caps — which bore the
logo of the Board of Control for Cricket in India — to his teammates in a
simple ceremony before the game.
“This is a special cap, it’s a tribute to the armed forces,” said Kohli,
who urged others to support the families.
Tit-for-tat air strikes and an aerial dogfight followed the February 14
suicide attack, igniting fears of an all-out conflict, but the crisis
appeared to ease when Pakistan returned an Indian pilot who was shot down and
captured.
There has been a national outpouring of support for the military in India
and calls for further action against Pakistan.
Some in India’s cricket establishment say the country should boycott its
World Cup game against Pakistan in England in June.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1607 hrs