Cricketer in India dies after on-field head injury

An Indian cricket player has died three days after suffering a head injury in a freak accident on the field during a one-day match in the eastern city of Kolkata.

The 20-year-old Ankit Keshri was hospitalised on Friday after colliding with a teammate while trying to catch a ball during the match between the local East Bengal and Bhowanipore teams.

The players rushed Keshri to the intensive care unit at Kolkata’s AMRI Hospital, but he was later moved to the general admission unit before his family transferred him Sunday to Nightingale Hospital for more specialised treatment.

Keshri had briefly lost consciousness at the time of collision but regained consciousness after he was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by teammate Shiv Sagar.

“During the match, both bowler and fielder ran to take a catch,” Sagar said.

“Both of them collided and fell on the ground. One player got up after the collision but Ankit remained on the ground, he was not breathing and blood was coming out of his mouth. I gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation three to four times and he started breathing again. Then we took him to a hospital.”

His father, Raj Keshri, said his son had been talking on Sunday, but still had a fever and nausea.

“I don’t know why he was transferred to a general bed from ICU,” he said.

Keshri was considered an up-and-coming talent on the Indian cricket scene.

The right-hander was captain of the Bengal Under-19 team, and was short-listed for India’s under-19 team for the 2014 Colts World Cup.

Saddened by the demise of Ankit Keshri. A promising career aborted by an unfortunate incident on field.

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) April 20, 2015

Phillip Hughes, an Australian Test cricketer, died two days after he was struck in the head by a ball last year.

Hughes, 25, had undergone emergency surgery and was in critical condition in a Sydney hospital after he was hit on the head by a bouncer in a domestic first-class cricket match.