Anshuman Gaekwad, former India batsman and coach who died aged 71 on Wednesday from a long struggle with blood cancer, was remembered by Indian cricketers who wore black armbands in Colombo during the opening ODI of their three-match series against Sri Lanka.
Gaekwad, who had been battling with leukemia for along time, passed away at the age of 71 on Wednesday.
“Team India is wearing black armbands today in memory of former Indian cricketer and coach Aunshuman Gaekwad, who passed away on Wednesday,” the BCCI said in a statement.
India captain Rohit Sharma expressed his sadness: “When I heard that news I was devastated. We had some good conversations during the BCCI awards and also personally.”
“When I played Ranji Trophy he was there and at that time he came to me to say something about my game which was magnificent because he meant so much for someone like me,” he said.
“He taught us how cricket should be done in the old days; it used to be very tough. Its always nice when you learn from your seniors, understand how cricket was played back in the day, how tough it was and then to pass on his experiences on cricket and what his visions are about cricket. For me to understand that was a great learning at that point,” Rohit continued.
