Mumbai Indians players have been informed to wear black armbands in the match against RCB, and the reason for the same has been revealed by TOI reporter Gaurav Gupta.
The Mumbai Indians will take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 20th Match of the TATA IPL 2026. This game marks the beginning of the rivalry week as two of the IPL’s best teams, with the largest of fanbases, clash in a battle of the royals.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru come off a solid start with two wins after three matches, while, unlike them, the Mumbai Indians only won their first match, ending a 13-year-long jinx, and then went on to face two losses at the back of poor bowling performances.
Why will the Mumbai Indians players wear black armbands vs RCB? – Reason revealed
Wearing black armbands in the game of cricket clearly means that the players would be mourning a death or an unfortunate incident that is marked as a black day in the annual calendar.
The Mumbai Indians would also be wearing black armbands as they go out to host the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. As per the TOI reporter Gaurav Gupta, the MI team would be honouring the death of legendary Indian singer Asha Bhosle, who died in Mumbai this morning.
The 93-year-old legendary vocalist has sung in over 20+ Indian languages, and the legendary singer was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most recorded artist in music history all over the world.
Will RCB players also wear the black armbands for the same cause as MI?
The singer, who has been an inspiration for hundreds of singers and millions of Indian youngsters who consider singing a career, is a celebrated figure all over India, not only in Mumbai. Asha Bhosle has sung in so many languages that she has contributed to almost every known industry in the country.
Hence, in Gaurav Gupta’s opinion, not only the Mumbai Indians but also the Royal Challengers Bengaluru side should wear those bands to mourn the death of the once-in-a-generation singer. Moreover, the RCB team is now also owned by Indian owners in the Birla Group.
Ok..just learnt that the Mumbai Indians players will be wearing black armbands in their @IPL match tonight against Royal Challengers Bengaluru @RCBTweets
tonight at Wankhede 🏟 to mourn the passing away of legendary Singer Asha Bhosle, today in Mumbai.. @mipaltan 🙏 🙏 https://t.co/rmg56HgJPg— Gaurav Gupta (@toi_gauravG) April 12, 2026
Fans will split between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the Wankhede
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the two legendary Indian cricketers, have received immense love from Indian fans wherever they have played in India. Rohit Sharma has been in good touch in this season of the IPL. He will once again return to the Wankhede, his home ground, where he scored a stunning 78 in the first game, to lead the Mumbai Indians to a win in their opening game.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli will return with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and open the innings. The legendary batter was dismissed shortly after having made good starts for RCB in their last two encounters against the Chennai Super Kings and the Punjab Kings. He will be looking to find his supreme form back in the groove.
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