England  vs India, 2018: The reason why the Indian players are wearing black armbands

The third Test between India and England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham is well underway. Alastair Cook won the toss and opted to field first in seam friendly conditions.

As the Test began, the Indian team were seen sporting black armbands. The reason for this was to pay respect to the late cricketer Ajit Wadekar and the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former who passed away on August 15 and the latter who passed away on August 16.

Wearing black arm-bands are a way of showing respect for those who have passed away. Wearing a black arm-band signifies that the wearer is in mourning.

Ajit Wadekar was the former Indian cricket team captain, who led India to their first away series sucess in West Indies and England in 1971.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of the country between 1999 and 2004.

The Indian side, who are currently 2-0 down in the five-match Test series, will look to turn things around and achieve their first win of the series.

They made a few changes to their line-up, with Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Shikhar Dhawan coming into the side in place of Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, and Murali Vijay.

The England side, on the other hand, have made one change with Ben Stokes replacing Sam Curran, who was the man of the match in the first match. Stokes' missed the 2nd Test due to his court trial for affray for which he was found innocent.

Apart from the one change, the rest of the side remains unchanged with centurion Chris Woakes keeping his place in the playing XI.

Adil Rashid, who did not bowl a single delivery or bat for a single minute in the second Test continues to keep his place in the side as well.