Tendulkar condoles demise of young Bengal cricketer

"Saddened by the demise of Ankit Keshri. A promising career aborted by an unfortunate incident on field. May God give strength to his family and friends to cope with this loss," Tendulkar wrote on his Facebook page.

Keshri was in hospital for the past three days and was showing signs of recovery till yesterday evening when he was given oral food. However, in the early hours of this morning, Keshri suffered a massive cardiac arrest and was put on ventilator before he was declared dead.

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.

"Fielding at sweeper cover, Keshri rushed to take the high catch as left-arm pacer Sourav Mondal too ran on his follow through. It was as freak an accident as possible," Bengal A coach Jaideep Mukherjee, who was present at the ground, told PTI.