Sri Lanka players took the field wearing black armbands during the national anthem ceremony of the World Cup 2023 clash against India on November 2.
The late Percy Abeysekera, affectionately known as ‘Uncle Percy’, was a well-known name in Sri Lankan cricket circles. He was a huge cricket fan for over 40 years and passed away on October 30th at the age of 87. He became famous when Sri Lanka became world champions for the first time in the 1996 World Cup. The image of him marching through a stadium in Lahore with his country’s flag held high to celebrate his victory remains relevant.
To pay homage to their departed ardent fans, Sri Lankan cricketers have decided to wear black armbands during the match against the host nation at Wankhede in Mumbai.
“Abeysekera has been an integral part of Sri Lankan cricket and has played an important role in supporting and motivating players across borders,” SLC tweeted. “His immense legacy spanned the pre- and post-Test eras in Sri Lanka and his name will forever be remembered by cricket fans.”
His love for the game did not go unnoticed as he was admired by cricketers all over the world. In the 1980s, Martin presented Crow with his one of the Player of the Match trophies to honor his passion for Uncle Percy’s game.
Rohit Sharma, who recently visited uncle Percy during the 2023 Asia Cup, was deeply saddened by the loss and hailed him as his ‘biggest fan’.
“It’s a sad loss, you know, a sad loss for the cricket fraternity because in my eyes he was the number one cricket fan at that point.” Obviously there are a lot of fans now. I was a cricket fan for the first time in my life. It was him who saw it. Certainly, this is a sad moment for all of us,” Rohit lamented.
Earlier, India had paid similar tributes to legendary cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi, who passed away during a match against England.
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