Martin Crowe

Martin David Crowe was born on September 22, 1962, into a cricketing family in Auckland and transformed New Zealand's cricket through his elegant batting and trailblazing tactics.

Martin's fame rose rapidly; First-Class debut for Auckland at seventeen, New Zealand's young player of the year at eighteen and dawning the Kiwi colours by nineteen.

After a torrid debut series against Australia, Crowe showed his class in the 1983 World Cup with a stellar 97 against England, convincing Somerset to replace him with the legendary Vivian Richards. Crowe, alongside Richard Hadlee, formed a formidable Kiwi unit through the mid-80s.

In 1990, Crowe became captain of both formats. After a rough start, Crowe shook the cricketing fraternity with his unorthodox tactics in the 1992 World Cup, neutralizing the opposition's game plan, like opening the bowling by Dipak Patel, promoting Mark Greatbatch up the order as Crowe registered 456 runs in the tournament. However, Crowe's magical run got shattered by the Pakistani in the Semis.

In 1991, the graceful right-hander smashed 299 against Sri Lanka, the best score by a Kiwi player until Brendon McCullum's 302 against India in 2014. Martin and Andrew Jones put on a record 467-run stand in the same game, earning New Zealand a gruelling draw.

The Auckland-born cricketer suffered numerous injuries and was forced to retire at just 32. However, with 5444 and 4704 runs in 77 Tests and 143 ODIs, respectively, set a new benchmark for the Kiwi players that followed.

The Kiwi mastermind invented "Cricket Max" in 1996, a concept that was way ahead of his time. He was named CEO of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League; he quit the job after a troublesome season.

Martin returned to cricket at 48, playing a second-division club game. In 2012, he was diagnosed with Lymphoma; after battling through it successfully, his cancer returned in 2014.

Martin Crowe was inducted into the ICC Hall of fame during an emotional appearance at Eden Park in the 2015 World Cup match between Australia and New Zealand. Unfortunately, he passed away, aged 53, on March 3, 2016.

(As of February 2021)