IND vs ENG 2021: Why was the England team wearing black t-shirts during the national anthem?

The much-anticipated five-match Test series between India and England is finally underway. There was a buzz on social media about the hosts wearing black t-shirts during the national anthem before the game. The black t-shirt read: "Cricket is a game for everyone."

England won the toss and opted to bat first only for Jasprit Bumrah to draw first blood and dismiss Rory Burns for a duck.

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The reason behind England's black t-shirts explained

As per an IANS report, the decision to wear the t-shirts was to send a message about making the game more inclusive. The gesture comes after pace bowler Ollie Robinson was dropped from the second Test against New Zealand in June after old racist and sexist tweets of his resurfaced. He was replaced by pacer Olly Stone in the second Test against the Kiwis.

The England Cricket Board (ECB) had previously been criticised for not "taking the knee" as they did last summer when the West Indies toured the country.

England wearing 'Cricket is for everyone' black shirts over their whites during the national anthem ahead of the first Test ♥️#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/ZjPBF5v0XD

— Rahul Pandey (@sportstoryguy) August 4, 2021

The t-shirts were worn even when England played against New Zealand in the second Test earlier in June this year. The Kiwis went on to win the series 1-0.

As far as England's team combination goes, they have replaced Ollie Pope with Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow registered three ducks in four innings during the tour of India in the Test matches. However, could things be easier in familiar conditions back home as he gets a chance to resume his career in the longer format of the game.

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Playing XI for the first Test:

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

England: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Dan Lawrence, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, James Anderson