The Indian cricket team paid tribute to the late Anshuman Gaekwad, former India batsman and coach, by wearing black armbands during the opening ODI of the three-match series against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday.
Gaekwad, who had been fighting a prolonged battle with blood cancer, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 71.

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“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, said: “I was absolutely devastated to hear that news. I was lucky to have a few conversations with him during the BCCI awards, and on a personal note as well.
“When I was playing Ranji Trophy, he was there and he had a few things to talk about my game as well, which was overwhelming for me because he was such a great cricketer for us.”

“It’s 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 added.