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.

Late Percy Abeysekera, fondly known as Uncle Percy, was a familiar name in the Sri Lankan cricketing circuit. A cricket superfan for over 40 years, he passed away on October 30, aged 87. He shot to fame when Sri Lanka became the world champions for the first time in the 1996 World Cup. The visuals of him marching around the stadium in Lahore with his country’s flag held high to celebrate the victory remain afresh.

To pay homage to the departed ardent supporter, the Sri Lankan cricketers decided to don black armbands throughout the match against the hosts in Wankhede, Mumbai.

“Abeysekera was an integral part of the game of cricket in Sri Lanka and did play a pivotal role from beyond the boundary line to support and motivate the players,” SLC tweeted. “His towering legacy spans across Sri Lanka’s pre- and post-test eras, and his name will remain etched forever among cricket lovers.”

His love for the game didn’t go unnoticed as he was admired by cricketers across the globe. In the 1980s, Martin Crowe presented one of his Player of the Match trophies to recognise Uncle Percy’s passion for the game.

Rohit Sharma, who visited Uncle Percy recently during Asia Cup 2023, was deeply saddened by the loss and hailed him as the “No.1 supporter”.

“It’s a sad loss, you know, sad loss to the cricketing fraternity because in my eyes, he was the No. 1 supporter of cricket at that point in time. Obviously, there have been so many fans now, but the first ever fan, cricket fan I saw was him. So yeah, it’s a sad moment for all of us,” Rohit lamented.

Earlier, India against England paid a similar tribute to the late legendary cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi.

--With agencies inputs--