Veteran India off-spinner R Ashwin has shared his thoughts on the unfortunate and untimely demise of Himachal Pradesh cricketer Siddharth Sharma. Ashwin took to micro-blogging site Twitter to share his thoughts on the heart-wrenching incident, which has left the cricket community in India in shock and sent shock waves through Himachal Pradesh cricket circles.
“It’s scary. Hope every state association conducts health check-ups from time to time for players of all age groups. There is so much cricket happening and most of the cricketers find themselves on the road round the year. My thoughts are with Siddharth’s family Are,” Ashwin tweeted after learning about the heart-wrenching incident.
it’s scary. It is expected that each state association will conduct periodic health check-ups for players of all age groups. There is so much cricket happening and most cricketers find themselves on the road throughout the year. My thoughts are with Siddharth’s family pic.twitter.com/FXfd84SnSW
– Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) January 14, 2023
Siddharth, who was part of the men’s senior Himachal team, died on January 12 at a private hospital in Vadodara after being on a ventilator for the past two weeks. He succumbed to multi-organ failure. Prashant Chopra, Siddharth’s friend and the man who played for the India U19 team under Unmukt Chand during the U19 World Cup in Australia in 2012, also spoke on his friend’s demise.
“When he was in the ICU, he regained consciousness but could not speak, so he asked the nurse to bring him a piece of paper and write to his father: Don’t stop me from playing cricket. Let me play (Please don’t stop me from playing cricket). Our manager was there, and when he told us this, we could not hold back our tears,” Chopra said, quoting Siddharth’s final statements as quoted by Sportstar.
IPL Governing Council chairman Arun Singh Dhumal also expressed his condolences to the late cricketer and termed the incident as unfortunate.
