Chennai: The India and England cricket teams observed a minute's silence before the start of the opening test on Thursday to pay homage to the victims of Mumbai's terror attacks that killed at least 171 people last month.
On Tuesday England's cricket team pledged to donate half of its match fees from the first test against India to help victims of the terror attacks that killed at least 171 people in Mumbai last month.
The team has returned to India to play the test series after flying home in the wake of the attacks. On Tuesday, England players released a statement saying they would donate an estimated $52,000 to help those affected by the attacks.
"The England players will donate half their match fees from the first test match to the families of those victims of the Mumbai attacks," said opening batsman Alastair Cook, reading from statement issued by the touring side.
Cook added that England's return was an "open and public statement of support for the Indian people following the tragic events in Mumbai."
England's return became possible after the Indian cricket board revised the itinerary and picked two new venues that were cleared by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) security consultants. The team has returned to play the two test matches.
On Thursday both teams and match officials lined up just inside the boundary as they marked their respect.
The security at the team hotel and the ground has been drastically increased with Chennai police dispatching 5,000 security personnel, including 300 commandos, to provide security cover for the teams.
The time lost during the security appraisal, and the change of venues, cost England the lone scheduled warm-up game before the tests, but the ECB tried to make up for that by arranging a training camp in Abu Dhabi.
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