Why is the Indian cricket team wearing black armbands?

The fourth test match between India's tour of England commenced earlier today. With the series tied at 1-1, this penultimate match at the Kennington Oval in London holds a lot of importance for both teams.

While the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, lost the toss and were asked to field, the Indian players were seen in the field wearing black armbands. Why?

Why is the Indian cricket team wearing black armbands?

The Indian cricket team is wearing the black armbands to honour the legendary Vasu Paranjape, who passed away a couple of days back. He was 82-year-old.

Who is Vasu Paranjape?

Vasu Paranjape is someone who has donned multiple hats in the Indian cricketing ecosystem. He started off as a player, a coach, selector and mentor for the Indian team. Paranjape was a name synonymous with Mumbai cricket and he had acted as a mentor to great players like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and others. He also served as a coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore for some time.

Vasu Paranjape is survived by his son his wife, two daughters and son Jatin Paranjape - a former Indian cricketer and selector.

Journalist Anand Vasu and Paranjape's son, Jatin, had co-authored a book on his life titled Cricket Drona last year.