India and New Zealand pay heartfelt tribute to late Martin Crowe

Usually at the beginning of the match, both the team assemble on the ground for the national anthems of each of the teams, before going onto the field for battle. But this match had something special, before the national anthems started.

Star sports presenter Alan Wilkins and all the team members from each of the two teams along with the match officials paid a heart felt tribute to former New Zealand captain late Martin Crowe, who had passed away after a battle with cancer earlier this month.

Martin Crowe, who is widely regarded as the best New Zealand batsman ever, has made his Test debut against Australia in 1982 and ODI debut against the same team in 1982. Crowe made 5444 runs in 77 Tests with 17 centuries and a highest score of 299 vs. Sri Lanka in 1991.

In ODIs, he is credited with his innovative captaincy in the ICC World Cup 1992, that was played in Australia and New Zealand. Crowe took New Zealand to the semi-finals and was also the player of the tournament. He made 4704 runs in 143 ODIs with 4 centuries.

He battled with a knee injury during later stages of his career, which ultimately forced him to retire at the age of 33. Crowe remained connected to the game via coaching. In 2012, Crowe revealed that he was diagnosed with Lymphoma and with sheer will power defeated the illness in 2013.

Martin Crowe was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. But ultimately, the cancer came back again in 2014 and after a brave battle, Crowe succumbed to the disease on March 3, 2016.

All the Kiwi players had tears in their eyes and two players Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor were more emotional as Crowe had helped them in their batting when both were dropped from the national team. The New Zealand players wore a black armband in his tribute and a short video was played on Martin Crowe’s cricketing career, which had Alan Wilkins recounting Crowe’s career highlights.