In a recent unfortunate incident from Pune, a 35-year-old cricketer died of cardiac arrest while playing a cricket match at the Garware Stadium in the city on Thursday. The player, by name Imran Patel, came out to bat as an opener and began complaining of chest and arm pain after spending some time on the pitch. He informed the on-field umpires and was given permission to leave the field. While heading back to the pavilion, however, Imran collapsed.
The entire incident was filmed as the match went live. As Imran fell down, other players on the ground rushed towards him. He was straight away taken to the hospital. But even as doctors evaluated him, Imran was declared dead.
One of the surprises for many, however, was that Imran was in perfectly good health. He was a very fit and highly active player on any given day because he was an all-rounder. For this reason, what caused his death shocked many.
A young man, Imran Sikandar Patel, died of a #heartattack while playing cricket in the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district of Maharashtra.https://t.co/aCciWMuz8Y pic.twitter.com/pwybSRKSsa
— Dee (@DeeEternalOpt) November 28, 2024
“He never had any past history of medical conditions,” quoted Naseer Khan, another cricketer who participated in the match, as said to the Times of India. “Everything was in perfect condition physically. In fact, he was a complete package who loved the game. We are all still in shock.”
Imran left behind a wife and three daughters, the youngest of which is just four months old at this point. Patel was an established personality in the locality, owning a cricket team and having a real estate business outside. He ran a juice mart too. Recently in September this year, another cricketer by the name of Habib Shaikh also died in a similar manner when playing a match held in Pune. However, unlike Imran, who was said to be in a healthier state, Habib had an underlying condition since he was a diabetic.