Mitchell Starc wore a black ‘PH’ armband in the final in honor of Phillip Hughes

On the night of the ODI World Cup 2023 final, star cricketers Mitchell Starc and Steve Smith were seen wearing a black armband with “PH” written on it. It may turn out that the cricketers’ gesture was a tribute to the late Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, who passed away on November 27, 2014. The batsman died after being hit on the head by a sharp bouncer from Sean Abbott during a Shield match.

2015 World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke paid tribute to him after his fifth title and recently Starc and Smith did the same. Travis Head, Australia world Cup-The winning hero in 2023 also has a tattoo of Phillip Hughes on his arm and his X (formerly Twitter) cover photo of them hugging during a Shield match.

Notably, Head missed the early stages of the tournament due to a fracture in his left hand and joined the team midway through the season. On his return, the 29-year-old scored an emphatic century against New Zealand and a half-century against South Africa in the semi-final at the Eden Gardens. On the night of the final, when his team was under immense pressure, Head once again rose to the occasion and helped the side score 137 runs. Australia Win the match by six wickets and win their sixth ODI World Cup title.

Marnus Labuschagne provided him good support in the middle and the 29-year-old scored 58 runs. The two made a partnership of 192 runs, which eliminated India from the competition. When it came to the bowlers, Mitchell Starc took three wickets, while Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins took two wickets each.

Thanks to their sensational performance, Australia managed to restrict India to 240 runs and eventually won the match with 42 balls to spare. The Indian team was extremely disappointed after the defeat as players like Mohammed Siraj, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli almost started crying in the middle. Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to the dressing room to console all the cricketers after the defeat.