India and Zimbabwe gamers wore black armbands throughout the first T20I between the 2 sides on the Shaheed Veer Narayan Worldwide Stadium in Raipur on Friday to honour former Zimbabwe cricketer and umpire Sarah Dambanevana, who handed away earlier this week.
The gamers and match officers additionally noticed a minute’s silence earlier than the beginning of play in her reminiscence.
“The Indian Cricket Crew, Zimbabwe Cricket Crew and match officers are carrying black arm bands and noticed a second of silence in honour and reminiscence of former Zimbabwe cricketer and umpire Sarah Dambanevana, following her latest passing,” the BCCI stated in a submit on X.
Dambanevana handed away following a quick sickness. She represented Zimbabwe as a quick bowler earlier than transferring into umpiring, the place she turned one of many nation’s pioneering feminine match officers.
In 2022, she turned the primary feminine umpire from Zimbabwe to hitch the ICC Improvement Umpires Panel. She obtained her first ICC appointment on the ICC U19 Ladies’s T20 World Cup in January 2023.
On the age of 36, she had officiated in 72 senior worldwide matches, together with 10 males’s T20Is, 14 girls’s ODIs and 48 girls’s T20Is.
Her final match was the T20I between Eire and Thailand on February 1, 2026, throughout the ICC Ladies’s T20 World Cup 2026 International Qualifier in Nepal.
In the meantime, India opted to discipline in opposition to Zimbabwe within the first T20I of the three-match collection in Raipur on Friday. The collection marks the beginning of Smriti Mandhana’s tenure as India’s captain, whereas middle-order batter Niki Prasad is ready to make her worldwide debut.
The collection can be the primary bilateral worldwide contest between India and Zimbabwe.
