England, NZ players observe minute's silence in memory of chief curator Mohan Singh

Players of the England and New Zealand teams observed a minute's silence in memory of Mohan Singh, Abu Dhabi's chief curator who died earlier this week, ahead of the first semifinal of the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday. Those present inside the Sheikh Zayed Stadium paid their respects to the Indian curator just before the national anthems of the two semifinalists.

Singh was found dead in his room on Sunday hours before the match between Afghanistan and New Zealand. According to UAE cricket sources, the 45-year-old, who hailed from Uttarakhand, was suffering from depression and was found hanging in his room, hours after inspecting the pitch for the clash that New Zealand won by eight wickets to enter the semi-finals.

Both Abu Dhabi Cricket and the ICC paid tributes to Singh but did not reveal the cause of death. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

Singh worked extensively with former BCCI chief curator Daljit Singh in Mohali before moving to the UAE in the early 2000s. Meanwhile, as they have done through the tournament, the players from both teams also took the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.