'We will miss you': Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik pays tribute to late Andrew Symonds

Renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik paid tribute to former Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds through his sand art at Puri beach in Odisha. Pattnaik’s tribute comes hours after the former all-rounder died in a car accident on 15 May. The artist created a sand sculpture of Symonds with a message that read, “We will miss you… Tributes to Andrew Symonds”.  

Taking to social media, Pattnaik also paid homage to Symonds expressing the huge loss to the world of cricket. “Sad to know about #AndrewSymonds passing away in a tragic accident. It is a huge loss to the world of cricket," his tweet read. Check his post here:

Symonds, 46, died in a car crash near the Alice River Bridge on Hervey Range Road in Queensland, Australia. According to the police, the former Aussie all-rounder died on the spot after his car rolled off the road in the Townsville area of Queensland. Reports also suggest that the accident took place at about 10:30 pm. Symonds’s death was another tragic blow to the Australian cricket fraternity after legend Shane Warne’s sudden demise. Warne was found dead in his villa at Thailand’s Koh Samui on 4 March 2022. Reports state that the 52-year-old Australian legend passed away due to a heart attack. Coming back to Symonds’s career, the England-born cricketer made his debut in 2004 against Sri Lanka at Galle in the longest format of the game. In Test cricket, he played 26 matches and scored 1,462 runs at an average of 40.61. He also scored two centuries and 10 half-centuries in Test matches. The former Australian cricketer was also part of two World Cup-winning squads in 2003 and 2007. He played his first game for Australia in ODI matches in 1998 against Pakistan at Lahore. He represented the country 198 times in this format and scored 5,088 runs, and also picked up 133 wickets. Whereas in T20I’s, Symonds played his first international match in 2005 at Auckland against New Zealand. In the shortest format of the game, the ace cricketer scored 337 runs in 14 T20I matches overall and earned eight wickets to his name.