India and Australia players wear black armbands in tribute to teen cricketer Ben Austin

Melbourne [Australia], October 31 (ANI): India and Australia players are wearing black armbands during the second T20I of the five-match series at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, paying tribute to 17-year-old Australian cricketer Ben Austin, who tragically died after being struck by a ball while training in Melbourne.

Austin lost his life after being struck on the neck while training in the nets at the Ferntree Gully Cricket Club in Melbourne.

"The Australian and Indian teams are wearing black armbands to pay tribute to aspiring cricketer Ben Austin, who tragically passed away after being struck by a ball in the nets," BCCI said in a post on X.

Austin was practising with a helmet but reportedly without a neck guard when a delivery from a wanger hit him, a hand-held ball-throwing device.

He was attended by the emergency workers around 5 pm on Tuesday. He was immediately taken to a hospital and placed on life support, but he did not survive.

The Ferntree Gully Cricket Club confirmed the tragic news through a Facebook post and urged fans to place their bats outside in Austin's memory, a gesture reminiscent of the tribute paid to Phil Hughes when he passed away in 2014.

"The Ferntree Gully Cricket Club sadly wishes to advise of the tragic passing of our player, Ben Austin, on 29/10/25. We are absolutely devastated by the passing of Ben, and the impacts of his death will be felt by all in our cricket community. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family - Jace, Tracey, Cooper & Zach, his extended family, his friends and to all of those who knew Ben and the joy that he brought," Ferntree Gully Cricket Club wrote in a Facebook post.

"We ask you to please respect the privacy of Ben's family during this time. Jace & Tracey would like to thank Ambulance Vic, the Police, the Monash Children's Hospital and those people who assisted on Tuesday. Further details will be shared as they become known, and we will advise of these through our usual process. We ask for your continued support in this time of grieving. May Ben Rest in Peace. Ferntree Gully Cricket Club," it added.

Speaking of the second match of the series, Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to field against the Shubman Gill-led side. The ongoing five-match series between hosts and Men in Blue is currently poised at 0-0 after the series opener at Canberra was washed out due to persistent rain.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.

Australia (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Matthew Short, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood. (ANI)

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