KKR name Ankit as 16th man
27 April 2015 5:51 PM GMT
Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday showed a noble gesture by including the deceased cricketer Ankit Keshri as the 16th member of their side in an IPL T20 cricket match against Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens. The match, however, was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of heavy rain and thunderstorm.
The home side will also hand over a cheque of Rs 10 lakh to the Ankit’s family at the post match presentation. “We’re too happy to do so and it’s an opportunity for KKR in a small way to remember Ankit and the premature end he faced,” CEO and MD of Kolkata Knight Riders Sports Private Ltd said in a letter to the Cricket Association of Bengal.
The CAB also displayed a portrait of Ankit with a caption, ‘Ankit Forever’, all over the stadium. Earlier former India captain Sourav Ganguly had decided to give away his BCCI pension for this year to the deceased former Under-19 Bengal captain’s family. In another tragic on-field incident after Phillip Hughes’ death last November, the East Bengal cricketer passed away three days after sustaining a head injury during a CAB senior one-day knock-out match against Bhowanipore SC on April 17. Ankit was in hospital for three days and was showing signs of recovery but died on April 20 early morning after a massive cardiac arrest.
The 20-year-old, a talented right-hander, had captained the Bengal U-19 team in Cooch Behar Trophy and was in the 30-member India U-19 probables list for the 2014 Colts World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. He was also playing for Bengal A (U-23 side) in CK Nayudu national Championship.
Meanwhile, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also paid homage to the departed young cricketer at its working committee meeting held in Kolkata on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals rise to top after KKR washout
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders’ home match against Rajasthan Royals was abandoned at Eden Gardens without a ball being bowled because of heavy rain and thunderstorm on Sunday. Field umpires Richard Illingworth and Rajesh Deshpande took the final call after their fourth inspection at 6.50pm as the home and visiting team captains Gautam Gambhir and Shane Watson were seen shaking hands and players moving out with their kits. The bad news for the anxious packed crowd finally came at 7.15 pm when it was announced that the match was abandoned and the ticket amount would be refunded April 28 onwards. Both teams were awarded one point each as RR benefited from the result by climbing up to the top of the table replacing Chennai Super Kings (10 points) with 11 from eight matches. KKR on the other hand stay at third place with seven points from six matches.
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