India cricketer killed in road accident amid IND vs AUS T20Is
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Former Indian Under-15 cricketer Rajesh Banik, who represented Tripura at all age group levels and in the Ranji Trophy, has passed away after a horrific road accident in Anandanagar in Tripura.
Cricket has witnessed several unfortunate moments in recent times. Thursday marked a tragic end to the life of a young and rising cricketer from Australia, while now a senior former cricketer from the Indian subcontinent has passed away. The cricket fraternity in India is grieved by the sudden and unfortunate death of the cricketer.
Former Indian U-15 Cricketer dies in road accident
Rajesh Banki, a former cricketer from Tripura and their former skipper, died in a road accident in Anandanagar in the western region of the state of Tripura. This was reported by an official from the Tripura Cricket Association.
The former cricketer was 40 and left his father, mother, and brother grieving his death. He was born on the 12th of December 1984 and played for Tripura as a right-handed batter and a part-time leg-spinner.
He went on to make his Ranji Trophy debut for Tripura back in the 2001-02 season and was among the state's leading cricketers during that time. He himself was part of India's U-15 squad and also served as a selector for his state's U-16 team.
Irfan Pathan and Ambati Rayudu's teammate for India—who was Rajesh Banik?
Banik played in 42 first-class games for his state team to add to the 24 List A matches and 18 T20s, all between the 2001-02 and 2017-18 seasons. Having amassed 1469 runs averaging below 20 in FC cricket, he also scored 378 and 203 runs in the two other formats, respectively.
Banik played for India in the U-15 matches and had Irfan Pathan and Ambati Rayudu as his contemporaries in the 15-man squad for the Asian Cricket Council tournament in Kuala Lumpur. These three were also part of the Under-15 squad that toured England later that year.
Banik represented Tripura across all age-group tournaments, including the Vijay Merchant Trophy, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the CK Nayudu Trophy, the MA Chidambaram Trophy, the Buchi Babu Invitational, the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy, and lastly, the National U-25 tournament.
Tripura players don black armbands during the Ranji Trophy match
To pay tribute to him on his death, the Tripura senior cricketers, currently featuring against Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, wore black armbands, and TCA also paid tribute to the former cricketer at their headquarters in Agartala.
"It is very unfortunate that we have lost a talented cricketer and selector of the Under-16 cricket team," secretary Subrata Dey was reported as saying by PTI. "We are shocked. May his soul rest in peace."
"Not many knew about his ability to identify young talent. That's why he was made one of the selectors of the Under-16 state team," said Anirban Deb, secretary of the Tripura Sports Journalists' Club, proving that his contributions were beyond the field.
Tagged:
India National Cricket Team Rajesh Banik India U-15 Cricket Team BCCI Tripura Cricket Association
