The vast Indian diaspora in England is always evident during a cricket match in England. Be it any opposition, the Indians fans almost always outnumber the opposition fans, even when it comes to playing England in their own den. The WTC Final was no different, as fans thronged the Oval on day 1 of the Ultimate Test between India and Australia. India Today journalist Rajdeep Sardessai shared an interesting image of a fan holding a Bharatiya Janata Party flag inside the stadium. While cricket has always been embroiled in politics, it made its presence felt at the Oval Stadium in London.
Sardessai put out a Tweet about the picture captioning it: "Spotted at the Oval: just a reminder, this is India Vs Australia folks! #WTC2023
The picture drew mixed reactions from Netizens, while some spoke proudly of nationalism, others highlighted it as bad luck.
"Spotted at the oval: just a reminder it’s INDIA vs Bjp!," said one fan.
"If India loses, we know what caused the panauti. The stadium needs to be cleansed immediately," commented another.
Here are a few of the reactions:
In a touching gesture before the match, players from India and Australia paid their condolences to the victims of the Odisha train tragedy by wearing black armbands and observing a minute's silence before the start of the World Test Championship Final at The Oval on Wednesday.
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first against Australia in London. After the toss the players came out wearing black armbands.
The PA system then announced that a moment's silence will be observed to remember the victims of the triple train accident in Balasore which took place last Friday.
