VISAKHAPATNAM: In the first T20I against Australia, the Indian team wore black armbands as a mark of respect in the memory of the CRPF personnel, who were martyred in a dastardly terror attack in Pulwama last week.
Australia won the toss and opted to field in the first T20I as Mayank Markande makes his international debut.
India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (captain), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), Darcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Handscomb (wk), Ashton Turner, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa.
The BCCI has already announced a move to scrap the IPL opening ceremony and will be donating close to Rs 15 crore for the families of the martyred soldiers.
"Our sincere condolences to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives. The Indian team is really shocked and sad about what happened," skipper Virat Kohli had expressed his condolences on the eve of the game.
There has been talks in some quarters about India boycotting the June 16 World Cup group league game against Pakistan and the skipper has said that the team will "abide by any decision that the government takes".
(With inputs from PTI)