KKR, CSK players pay tribute to Indian Armed Forces by singing national anthem in Eden Gardens

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) players and support staff gathered to honour the Indian Armed Forces prior to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. After Operation Sindoor, a military response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians on April 22, was successful, the gesture was made.

Operation Sindoor was initiated by the Indian military in the early hours of May 7 and targeted terrorist infrastructure at nine different places in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). These attacks were a response to the vicious Pahalgam attack, which killed a Nepali national and 25 Indian visitors.

Before the two teams took the pitch, they stood silently and proudly while the national anthem played and the words “Proud of the Indian Armed Forces” appeared on a huge screen.

TRIBUTE to INDIAN ARMED FORCE ! 🇮🇳

Proud moment of every Indian out there
National anthem at Eden 🇮🇳#OperationSindhoor #IndianArmy #IPL #KKRvsCSK #CSKvsKKR #IPL2025 pic.twitter.com/Hitjtn8Co7

— Mikasa Ackerman (@mikasa123456a) May 7, 2025

Ajinkya Rahane, the captain of KKR, made the right decision at the toss and decided to bat first.

Despite missing Venkatesh Iyer because of injury, the hosts got off to a strong start. Rahane took the lead, followed by Sunil Narine, who scored 26 before losing against Noor Ahmad.

With Rahane and Manish Pandey forming a middle-field partnership, KKR scored 87/3 at an 8.70 run rate at the conclusion of 10 overs. Already out of the running for the playoffs, CSK changed up their team, returning Devon Conway and Ravi Ashwin and giving Urvil Patel his debut. With two wickets at a cost of just 11 runs, Noor Ahmad was the most impressive bowler in the early overs.