ICC World T20: India, New Zealand players pay tribute to Martin Crowe

Nagpur: India and New Zealand players on Tuesday paid tribute to the legendary Martin Crowe, who passed away earlier this month. The New Zealand players wore black arm-bands as a mark of respect as a short audio-visual was shown on Crowe’s cricketing achievments after which a two-minute silence was observed. Martin Guptill, who was known to be close to Crowe was visibly emotional. “In the match, we will be showing our respects by wearing black armbands and I believe after the anthems, there will be a moment where there will be a pause, so that will be a special time of recognition on behalf of the side,” said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on the eve of the Super 10 Group 2 game at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha. [caption id=“attachment_2654024” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Martin Crowe[/caption] It must be mentioned that Indian players wore black arm bands during an Asia Cup match against United Arab Emirates earlier this month on the day, Crowe had passed away. Tributes have poured in from across the cricketing community with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis hailing him as the best player of reverse swing. Crowe died after a long battle with cancer on March 3 in Auckland aged 53 and the funeral was conducted on 11 March. Widely regarded as the best batsman produced by his country, Crowe played 77 Tests since making his debut against Australia and went on to score 5,444 runs at an average of 45.36 with 17 centuries, still a New Zealand record. PTI