A veteran cricket match in Mumbai saw tragedy striking as a 52-year-old cricketer died after being hit on the head with a ball. This incident happened at Matunga’s Major Dhadkar Maidan on Monday.
The deceased cricketer Jayesh Savla, 52, was part of the Kutchi Community’s cricket tournament for veterans being played at Dadar Union Sporting Club. Savla was positioned in the field, which was very near to another match that was being played at the adjacent Dadar Parsee Colony pitch.
The batter of the other match played a hard shot, which hit Savla on his head, without giving the cricketer any time to react. The ball struck the back of his head and he instinctively turned around. Savla, a businessman from Bhayandar, was immediately rushed to Sion Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
His funeral took place on Tuesday afternoon.
“We had two matches on Monday afternoon, one at Dadar Union and the second at Dadar Parsee Colony pitch. Savla was playing for Gala Rocks against Master Blaster and was positioned at the point when the DPC game’s batter hit a pull shot. The ball hit him on the back of his head, exactly where Australia’s Phil Hughes had been hit which led to his death,” Rohit Gangar, another cricketer from that match, told Hindustan Times.
The incident led to the morning’s net sessions at Matunga ground being canceled and the talk at the ground centered around the safety of the cricketers during matches.
“The players would hit along the ground. After the advent of T20 cricket, it has become a power game. The moment the coach turns his back, the players start hitting aerial shots. In groundstrokes, you are hit on the legs but when it comes to aerial shots, your face or head is in danger,” said Ramesh Vazge, former managing committee member who coaches at New Hind SC ground.
“I broke my teeth while taking fielding practice here as my attention was diverted to a shot played towards my side. But this time, a player has died on the ground,” Vazge added.
Sachin Koli, coach of IES Raje Shivaji (English Medium), said: “If you get hit on any other part of the body, you will suffer a fracture but a hit on the head can result in death. So, we make our players fielding on the plots (pitch area) wear helmets compulsorily. There was an incident where a school player got hit on the shoulder, and after that, we took this decision. For the small kids, we have made it compulsory; the bigger players don’t wear it.”
The Matunga police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) in the matter and are inquiring how two cricket matches that too with season balls were played so close to each other.
(Hindustan Times inputs)
