Young cricketer dies during warm-up

Kolkata: A 21-year-old budding cricketer died on Tuesday after he fell ill while playing at Tala Park. The young cricketer, identified as Aniket Sharma, was declared brought dead by the doctors at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.

According to locals, at around 11:45 am, a

warm-up session was in progress at the Tala Park ground for the cricketers of Paikpara Sporting Club. To increase the physical fitness, the instructor told the cricketers to play football for sometime.

While warming up for the football match between the cricketers of the said club, Sharma suddenly collapsed. The officials of the club and his teammates immediately rushed Sharma to R G Kar Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

"All of us were there on the field, warming up. He wanted to play football for some time. He suddenly collapsed on the field and we rushed him to the hospital," a teammate said.

Doctors suspect that Sharma died due to a sudden cardiac arrest. But the exact cause of death would be identified only after the autopsy examination.

Sharma, a left-hand spinner, who could also bowl right-arm off spin, joined the club a year ago and was a fine talent according to his coach. "He was a good cricketer. He came here for the first time last year. He was a brilliant team man and a good fielder too. We are shocked," the coach said.

Sharma was supposed to play for his club in a match against Milan Samiti in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) First Division League tie on Wednesday. The CAB has also expressed condolence in the budding cricketer's sudden death. "We are deeply saddened by the incident and it is shocking to all of us. We are trying to postpone the match which is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday)," CAB joint secretary Avishek Dalmiya said.