- England face India in the first of five Tests at Headingley, beginning on Friday
- Rishabh Pant wants to use cricket as a way of making India ‘happy again’
- Former Australia cricketer David Warner has vowed never to fly Air India again
Rishabh Pant has vowed to ‘make India happy again’ after the Ahmedabad air disaster last week that killed 241 passengers and crew, and dozens more on the ground.
Friday’s first Test between England and India at Headingley is expected to begin with a minute’s silence, while both sides will wear black armbands.
Both countries were heavily affected by the tragedy, with the on-board death toll including 181 Indians and 53 British nationals.
‘What happened with the aircraft, the whole of India was disheartened,’ said Pant, India’s vice-captain and wicketkeeper.
‘The only thing from our side, we’re going to be sticking to how we can make India happy again.
‘The emotion is going to be high because of what happened in the crash. But we are going to put our best foot forward for the country – how we can make them happy. And that’s the added responsibility.’
On June 12, just days before India’s five-Test tour of England, Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed shortly after takeoff, resulting in a total of 274 fatalities.
The aircraft lost stability at approximately 625 feet altitude and descended rapidly within a minute of departure, crashing into the hostel block of B.J. Medical College in the Meghaninagar area of Ahmedabad.
The sole survivor, 40-year-old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, was seated in seat 11A near an emergency exit and managed to escape the wreckage with injuries.
Investigations are ongoing, with both black boxes recovered, one of which sustained minor damage.
Preliminary reports suggest potential mechanical failures, with the aircraft’s landing gear possibly still deployed during takeoff.
In the wake of the disaster, former Australian cricketer David Warner vowed never to fly Air India, sharing an alleged account from an ex-crew member of the airline named Vivek on social media.
The former crew member’s post made a series of allegations about Air India and the aircraft which crashed at Ahmedabad, claiming the plane ‘had issues for years’ and that pilots were forced to fly it if ‘the company didn’t have a spare Dreamliner the Dreamliner’.
Although there is no evidence to suggest that the information in this post is factual – or that Air India is at fault for the tragedy, Warner shared the post with the caption: ‘If this is true it’s absolutely shocking. Thoughts go out to all the families.’
‘I would never fly @airindia ever again after this and my last interaction with them,’ he added.
The previous incident Warner is referring to happened in March, when he and hundreds of other passengers were forced to wait in an Air India plane that did not have any pilots.
‘We’ve boarded an aircraft without any pilots and have been waiting for hours. Given that you don’t have any pilots for the aircraft, why would you still board passengers? Warner posted to X at the time.
Air India addressed the issue in a social media response at the time and said: ‘Departure was delayed because the crew running your flight was delayed on a previous assignment that was impacted by these problems. Thank you for choosing to fly with us, and we appreciate your patience.’
Meanwhile, England had a huge decision to make on vice-captain Ollie Pope ahead of the first Test against India on Friday, with the Surrey batter under pressure from rising star Jacob Bethell.
As reported by Mail Sport on Wednesday, England and Ben Stokes have opted to keep faith in Pope, at least for the first match of the five-match series.
