Players from India and England paid tribute to cricket legend Sir Gary Sobers by donning black armbands for the third and final ODI at Lord’s on Sunday, two days after the West Indies captain’s death. This was done in front of the players who decided between the two sides at the famous venue, and both teams honored one of the game’s most successful players. Sobers, regarded as one of cricket’s greatest all-rounders, died on Friday, drawing tributes from around the world. The players took the field dressed in black armbands as a sign of respect before playing in London. The award set the stage for an important contest, with India and England entering the third ODI series at 1-1 after sharing the opening two matches of the series. England captain Harry Brook won the toss and elected to bat first, helping his team take advantage of what he believed would be a good batting margin. “We’re going to have a bat today. It looks like a good pitch; hopefully, we can get some good pitches on the board and put them down,” Brook said of the pitch. England made a change to their playing XI, bringing on Josh Tongue in place of Saqib Mahmood. India has been forced to change a lot, and Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out due to swelling in his left knee after the injury sustained while playing in the second ODI in Cardiff. KL Rahul he returned after missing the previous match, while Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh also came into the side. Washington Sundar was unavailable due to injury. Indian captain Shubman Gill admitted that he would have preferred to play first. “We should have bowled. Boom has missed out with a knee injury. KL, Prince and Arshdeep have come. We wanted to play four seamers. We were in a good position and lost too many wickets,” said Gill. The Lord’s encounter also caught the attention of the ODI World Cup less than a year later. England opted to rely on the exceptional form of Joe Root after knocking unbeaten 76 and 99 in the first two matches, while India looked for a seasoned campaigner. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to help get the next victory. But before the cricket began, the focus was on the memory of Sir Gary Sobers, with both teams agreeing to pay tribute to one of the game’s greats by wearing black armbands.