{"id":14517,"date":"2026-04-28T16:29:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T16:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=14517"},"modified":"2026-04-28T16:29:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T16:29:50","slug":"130584787-cms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=14517","title":{"rendered":"IPL 2026: Why Punjab Kings wore black armbands against Rajasthan Royals | Cricket News &#8211; The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130584801,imgsize-67552,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/punjab-kings.jpg\" alt=\"IPL 2026: Why Punjab Kings wore black armbands against Rajasthan Royals\" title=\"The gesture was a mark of respect, with Punjab Kings players wearing black armbands as a sign of mourning. (Pic credit: IPL)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"The gesture was a mark of respect, with Punjab Kings players wearing black armbands as a sign of mourning. (Pic credit: IPL)\">The gesture was a mark of respect, with Punjab Kings players wearing black armbands as a sign of mourning. (Pic credit: IPL)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Players of Punjab Kings took the field wearing black armbands during their <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/indian-premier-league\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Indian Premier League<\/a> 2026 clash against <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/rajasthan-royals\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Rajasthan Royals<\/a> on Tuesday, paying tribute to the late mother of teammate <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/cricket\/player-profile\/azmatullah-omarzai\/67516\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Azmatullah Omarzai<\/a>.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/>The Afghanistan all-rounder suffered a personal loss earlier this week, with news of his mother\u2019s passing emerging on Monday. <!-- -->While Omarzai has not yet featured in a match this season, he remains part of the Punjab squad, and the franchise\u2019s gesture underlined the sense of unity within the camp.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/><span class=\"strong\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">Live Score:<\/span> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/cricket\/ipl\/ipl-2026\/ipl-2026-pbks-vs-rr-ipl-live-score-update-punjab-kings-vs-rajasthan-royal-cricket-match-today-scorecard-ipl-news-vaibhav-sooryavanshi-priyansh-arya-shreyas-iyer\/liveblog\/130575536.cms\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">PBKS vs RR, IPL 2026<\/a><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/><span class=\"strong\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">Team stands in solidarity<\/span><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"18\"\/>Punjab captain <!-- -->Shreyas Iyer<!-- --> expressed the team\u2019s condolences at the toss, highlighting the emotional reason behind the tribute. \u201cOn behalf of the whole team, I just want to share our heartfelt condolences to Azmat and his family for his loss. I\u2019m sure we are there to support him through thick and thin,\u201d he said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>The gesture was a mark of respect, with players across the XI wearing black armbands as a sign of mourning \u2014 a long-standing tradition in sport to honour the departed.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/>Support for Omarzai also poured in from the wider cricketing fraternity. Fellow Afghanistan players Mohammad Nabi and Karim Janat shared heartfelt messages, offering prayers and strength to the grieving family.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/><span class=\"strong\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">Emotional backdrop to high-scoring contest<\/span><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"30\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/>Despite the sombre context, Punjab produced a strong performance with the bat, posting an imposing 222\/4 in their 20 overs. A late onslaught, which saw 55 runs come off the final three overs, shifted momentum firmly in their favour.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"35\"\/>Earlier, the openers provided a brisk start, taking advantage of inconsistent lines from Rajasthan\u2019s pace attack. While Jofra Archer tested the batters with pace and bounce, the hosts capitalised at the death, with a blistering cameo ensuring a commanding total.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"37\"\/>Omarzai, 25, is regarded as a promising all-rounder, having previously represented Gujarat Titans before joining Punjab. Across his IPL career, he has contributed with both bat and ball and remains a valued member of the squad.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"39\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/cricket\/ipl\/ipl-2026\/ipl-2026-why-punjab-kings-wore-black-armbands-against-rajasthan-royals\/articleshow\/130584787.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The gesture was a mark of respect, with Punjab Kings players wearing black armbands as&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34191,34187,34188,34189,34190,4479,4412,19199,3167,17037],"class_list":["post-14517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-afghanistan-cricket","tag-azmatullah-omarzai","tag-black-armbands-tribute","tag-cricket-community-support","tag-emotional-tribute","tag-indian-premier-league","tag-ipl-2026","tag-punjab-kings","tag-rajasthan-royals","tag-shreyas-iyer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}