Former New Zealand star batter Martin Crowe would have turned 62 on Sunday. The former Kiwi star passed away at just 53 years old due to illness. 3rd of March 2016 was a sad day for cricket fans across the world when it was announced that Martin Crowe had taken his last breath.
Ever since his debut to his final game, Martin Crowe was a master with the bat. His enduring legacy and his approach to the game were loved. It was Martin Crowe who stunned the Aussies by bowling Dipak Patel with the new ball during the 1992 ODI World Cup. Such a move was never attempted before and this made the Kiwi a revolutionary.
Sunil Gavaskar had heaped praise on Martin Crowe after the latter’s passing. “In his passing, the game has lost not just one of the best batsmen in its history but also a good thinker of the game and one who had innovative ideas to make the game grow” Sunil Gavaskar’s old statement read.
Martin Crowe: True legend of the game
Wasim Akram made many batters’ life difficult during his heydays. The former Pakistani skipper though credits Martin Crowe as one of the finest players of reverse swing. At a time when just one ball was used and red-ball cricket was in vogue, Martin Crowe made batting look elegant and poetic.
During an interview on SKY Sports, Wasim Akram said “It was against New Zealand and Waqar had got 29 wickets and I got ten in two games. Martin Crowe got a century and I asked him after the series ‘What is your secret’ (of playing reverse swing well). He said ‘ I just try to play you on the front foot and play for the in-swingers every time and out-swingers automatically miss the edge”
Martin Crowe is the only batter to be dismissed for 299 in the Test format. Had he scored that one run against Sri Lanka he would have become the first Kiwi to score a Test triple ton. A mark which Brendon McCullum got to many years later against India.