Sidharth Sharma, a fast bowler for Himachal Pradesh, passed away on Thursday in a Vadodara private hospital at 28. The pacer died from multi-organ failure after spending the previous two weeks on a ventilator. He was flown to Chandigarh, and his final rites were performed in his hometown Una.
Sidharth, a senior player for Himachal Pradesh, scored a fifer in the first innings of their most recent match against Bengal at the Eden Gardens in December before adding a brace in the second. While travelling to Vadodara with the team for an away game against Baroda, he became ill and was hospitalised.
Ravichandran Ashwin, a seasoned off-spinner for India, has expressed his thoughts on the tragic and untimely death of cricketer Sidharth Sharma of Himachal Pradesh. Ravichandran Ashwin tweeted on this saying, “This is scary. Hope every state association will have periodic health check ups for players across age groups. There is so much cricket happening and most of the cricketers find themselves on the road through the year. My thoughts are with Siddharth’s family,”
Prashant Chopra, who is a friend of Sidharth, asserted the latter’s final words, “When he was in the ICU, he regained his consciousness but could not speak, so he asked the nurse to get him a piece of paper and wrote to his father: Mujhe cricket khelne se rok na mat. Mujhe khelne dena (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,”
Arun Dhumal, the former president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, said, “It is unfortunate. He was fine and played the first two matches of the Ranji Trophy. Before the game against Baroda, he felt unwell and we got him admitted to the hospital. After a few tests, it was found that his creatinine levels were high. His kidneys and subsequently other organs were affected. The doctors tried their level best but could not save him,” as quoted by Sportstar