Kolkata, April 21 (IANS) Another young cricketer was on Tuesday hospitalised after sustaining a head injury during a local league match, a day after the shocking demise of former Bengal Under-19 team captain Ankit Keshri.
An doctor attending Rahul Ghosh here said the young cricketer was stable but had suffered a haemmorhage, and a scan showed a clot in the left side of his head.
Ghosh had to be rushed to the Nightingale Hospital in central Kolkata and admitted in the Intensive Critical Care Unit after he was injured while fielding during the second division league match between his team Kolkata Police and Vijay Sports at the Videocon Cricket Academy run by former India captain Sourav Ganguly.
Late in the evening, Ghosh was shifted to a general ward.
Ghosh, who was fielding in the covers, was injured when the ball hit him.
“He has an injury on the left side of the head. He has had haemorrhage, but no vomiting. CT scan has been done. It shows a clot,” Sabyasachi Sen, the attending doctor, said on Tuesday.
Ghosh, nearing 20, was now stable, but will be kept under observation for seven to eight days, the doctor said.
“Before that nothing conclusive can be said,” he added.
Sen said the young player had difficulty in remembering the what happened just after the incident.
“He picked up the injury behind the left ear while fielding. He will be kept under observation as these things can easily evolve. There is no edema (abnormal accumulation of fluid) near the brain stem, and his vital part has not been hurt,” he said.
“The surgeons will decide what to do next. No ventilation is needed now. He is under constant monitoring,” the doctor added.
The cricket world was plunged into mourning on Monday after former Bengal Under-19 captain Keshri, regarded as a bright prospect, died from a head injury sustained during a Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) senior knockout tournament game last Friday.
An atmosphere of gloom pervaded the hospital entrance on Tuesday as Ghosh’s panicky parents – father Amitava and mother Sharmila – and other family members waited agonisingly for more updates. A number of CAB officials, including joint secretary Subir Ganguly and treasurer Biswarup Dey, visited the hospital.
An inconsolable Sharmila Ghosh said she had asked her son to “field carefully” while playing following Keshri’s tragic death.
“I didn’t have a good feeling about his going out to play today. I called him up before the match and told him to field carefully. Why did he go to play today despite what happened to the other cricketer yesterday,” asked Ghosh’s mother.
The father said the injured cricketer was “conscious” post hospitalisation.
“I feel frightened about what happened yesterday… Only they know how it feels like… Tomorrow CT scans will reveal if the edema has grown. CAB has assured every possible help,” he said.
Dey assured that the CAB will bear all expenses for Ghosh’s treatment. “The biggest challenge for us now is to get him home healthy.”
“We are concerned indeed after the incident yesterday. I think players needed to have mediclaim as injury is part of the game.”
However, he rejected allegations that the incident happened due to bad infrastructure. “On the contrary, cricketing infrastructure is fantastic here.”
Twenty-year-old Keshri – turning out for his club East Bengal against Bhowanipore – was injured and fell unconscious following an on-field collision with fellow fielder Sourav Mondal while taking a catch.
He passed away in the same hospital early on Monday following a cardiac arrest. His bereaved famly has alleged “medical negligence”.
Keshri’s tragic fate invoked the memories of the unfortunate death of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes who was fatally hit by a bouncer during a domestic match on November 25 last year, and died from the injuries two days later.