Asia Cup: Players Wear Armbands, Observe Silence as Tribute to Martin Crowe

Wearing black armbands, India and United Arab Emirates players observed a minute's silence before the start of their Asia Cup match in memory of former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe, who passed away after a long battle with cancer. 

The Indian players wore black armbands as a mark of respect. The most moving sight was that of Martin's elder brother and former New Zealand Test player Jeff Crowe, who decided to continue as the ICC match referee for the tournament before leaving for home. (Scorecard | Blog)

A lot of Indian players were seen offering their condolences to Jeff and personally went to have a chat with him. (Martin Crowe, New Zealand's Champion Batsman and Twenty20 Cricket's Trailblazer)

The entire cricketing community paid tribute to the departed soul and it was no different here as Pakistan legend Waqar Younis recollected his on-field rivalry with the New Zealand great.

Diagnosed in September 2014 with terminal double-hit lymphoma, a rare form of blood cancer, he passed away in Auckland surrounded by family.

Crowe enjoyed a 13-year international career from 1982-95, including four years as captain.

He had a Test average of 45.36 in 77 matches and held a slew of New Zealand batting records when he retired, including most Test runs (5,444), highest Test score (299), most 50s (35) and most hundreds (17) -- the last of which still stands.