India are touring Sri Lanka for a three-match ODI and T20I series, with the T20I series recently getting concluded with a dominant 3-0 victory in the series by the Men in Blue under Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership.
Team India are now battling the Lankan Lions in the first of the three-match ODI series in Colombo. Rohit Sharma and team lost the toss and were made to field first. Along with Rohit, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul have also marked their return to the Indian team for the three-match series.
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As the Men in Blue entered the pitch for the first innings of the game, they were spotted wearing a black armbands. According to the reported news, Rohit and co. are wearing the armband to acknowledge the loss of one of India’s legendary cricketers, Aunshuman Gaekwad, who recently passed away on July 31, 2024.
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Who was Aunshuman Gaekwad?
Aunshuman Gaekwad is a legendary cricketer who represented India in 40 Tests and 15 ODIs. Gaekwad had a solid defence, which helped keep out top pacers of the early days in cricket, especially the West Indian pace attack that was known to rip through opposition batters.
Gaekwad earned himself the name of ‘The Great Wall’ as he simply tired out the bowlers and made it impossible for them to get through his defence.
Gaekwad scored two centuries in his 10-year long Test career, including a knock of 201 runs against Pakistan in Jalandhar, wherein he completely took the sting out of the Pakistan bowling attack.
| Format | Matches | Runs | Average | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 40 | 1985 | 30.07 | 201 |
| ODIs | 15 | 269 | 20.69 | 78* |
In 2018, Gaekwad was awarded the highest BCCI honour, the C.K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.
He was diagnosed with blood cancer during his latter stages in life. The BCCI and a few former cricketers including the legendary Kapil Dev made efforts to help the veteran financially during this tough period. The legendary cricketer passed away on July 31, 2024 in Vadodara.
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