Former South Africa captain and one of the greatest all-rounder of his era Clive Rice passed away in South Africa on Tuesday morning. Tributes have been pouring in from all around the world for the great player, who was South Africa’s first ever captain. His first assignment was to tour India for a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series in India. India were led by Mohammad Azharuddin. South Africa lost the opening two matches but bounced back extremely well in the third ODI, chasing down a mammoth 287 to win the match but lost the series 1-2. Those three matches were Rice’s only three matches.
Keppler Wessels too over as captain of the South African side. But Rice will forever be remembered as one of the greatest all-rounders of his era, right up there with the likes of Malcom Marshall, Richard Hadlee and Ian Botham. He struck a formidable partnership with Hadlee during their stint at Nottinghamshire. The Duo were extremely good friends even off the field. Many cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Kevin Pietersen, Dave Richardson have paid tribute to the former all-rounder. Rice was admitted in a hospital in Bangalore just a few days before his death but he was sent home after he showed signs of recovering.