Zulfiqar Bhatti (left), a local cricket player, died when a ball hit his chest during a match in Sukkur. PHOTO COURTESY: FAMILY
On Tuesday, two local teams, Super Star Cricket Club and Sindh Young Cricket Club, engaged in a friendly contest at the Jinnah Municipal Stadium in Sukkur. In the second innings of the game, 22-year-old Bhatti, who played for the Super Star Cricket Club, went to bat at his usual one-down position.
Tears welled up in the eyes of the eyewitnesses who related his last innings to The Express Tribune. It was the second ball he faced which struck Bhatti in the chest, causing him to collapse onto the ground. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
Thus, the passionate cricketer bowed out of this world, doing what he loved most - playing cricket. His funeral prayers were offered in the premises of Dargah Bedil Bekus and he was laid to rest in his native graveyard.
A large number of cricket enthusiasts and people from all walks of life attended his funeral. The district administration has announced to suspend sports activities throughout Sukkur district for three days as a token of mourning.
Zulfiqar’s father, Manzoor Bhatti, told reporters his youngest of four sons had been playing cricket since his early childhood and was an excellent sportsman. His peers agreed.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2013.
COMMENTS (22)
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My condolences to the family & friend & sympathizers. I must mention here for orher young athletes to learn the manual CPR and automatic AED machine to save life of victims whose heart suddenly stops for any millions of reasons. Any hospital can teach you. Tha AED machine is little costly but can be kept at stadiums or gymnasium buildings for athletes & public. The AED machine now speak in your language too & give directions what to do etc. Hopefully the directions don't need an Urdu or English professor there to understand. Still all should know how it works from even watching YouTube which is part of school activities around the Globe also for knowledge & education. Good Luck Pakistan.
My sympathies are with the grieved family. May Allah bless his soul.
Basic life support should be taught to all persons , especially sportsmen so that at least the basics can be done until trained help arrives. If you can establish circulation the patient has a better chance. An AED is part of this but cannot be used unless the people at the stadium are trained. That would be considerably more helpful than 3 days of mourning.
Possibly died of ventricular tachycardia-Early CPR and Defibrillation could have saved him. District government should think about upgrading health system rather than mourning for 3 days.
@adil:
First your should correct the spelling it is pace and not "paise".
Secondly, the exact speed of the ball received could only be explained by the deceased who is now dead and buried in the grave right now.
Dr. Saleem Siddiqi
Feels bad,,,! Terrible loss for the pakistan,,May his soul rest in peace,,,
This was most like a case of Commotio Cordis. As some have suggested, chest protectors of soft type do not prevent this type of injury. It occurs when a projectile (ball, in this case) or any blunt object (like fist or elbow in karate) hits the chest area during vulnerable period of cardiac cycle that triggers ventricular fibrillation. An automatic external defibrillator (AED) is the only effective means to avoid a fatality as a consequence of this type of injury. These AEDs are now mandated in most schools and public places (airports, hotels, train stations) in the US and have saved thousands of lives since their introduction. Whether they can be manufactured locally in Pakistan so that they are cost effective enough to be widely available, is a question that the society needs to ask and stimulate discussion on.
Sad news! May Allah bless his soul with peace and mercy. Ameen
So sad .. but should tell me what was the paise of the ball ... Seriously surprise ..
Rest in peace. Tragic death.
Very sad indeed ... I hope he was wearing proper protective gear while batting ...
@NS: Karachi and Hyderabad are in Sindh
@Gemini: he means to say any sindhi player in a cricket team boss?
So sad ............. difficult to accept , yet I would like to go that way - doing what i liked doing best God give his family the strength to bear this sorrow
@NS: Sharjeel Khan is from Hayderabad and what do you think, Karachi is not the part of Sindh ?
Will there ever be a cricketer from Sindh to play in our national team...:(
RIP bhatti....
This means Cricket responsible both around the world and in Pakistan need to seriously increase Safety Gears to cover Chest part also so that impact of bouncer or a fast rising delivery may not take a casualty like this. An under cover heavy duty shirt like bullet proof jacket type should be introduce to avoid fatalities.
Sukkur District Administration, instead of mourning for 3 days should have announced of compensation reward for the grieved family as they lost a bread earner.
May Allah give the deceased place in Jannat and Sabr / patience to his family - Aamin.
Dr. Saleem Siddiqi
Very sad Indeed. but the killer bowler must be included in national team.
RIP brother
This was the news on TV last night when I returned home and completely switched my mood off, so sad, he had all his life ahead of him. My sympathies are with the grieved family. May Allah bless your soul. RIP