Himachal Pradesh's young seam bowler Sidharth Sharma passed away in a Vadodara hospital after a brief illness on Friday. A senior official of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) confirmed the news.
The 28-year-old was a part of the Himachal Pradesh team that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2021-22 and had played six first-class, six List A and one T20 game for the state with 33 wickets to his name.
"All of us at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association are devastated. Sidharth left us on Thursday night. He was on ventilator support for the past few days. He was in the squad during our last-round game in Vadodara against Baroda.
"Before the game, he started vomiting and had problems passing urine and had to be immediately admitted to a local hospital. His condition deteriorated in the following days," HPCA secretary Avnish Parmar told PTI.
Sidharth is survived by his parents and a brother, who lives abroad. "His last rites were performed today after his brother arrived from Canada. We have lost a very sincere player, who would have served the state for long," Parmar said.
Sidharth's death was also condoled by Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
"I am extremely saddened by the news of the passing away of Himachal Pradesh's Vijay Hazare winning team member Sidharth Sharma. I pray to God to give peace to the departed soul and may his loved ones get the strength to bear this great loss," the Chief Minister tweeted.
The last match that he played this season was at the Eden Gardens against Bengal from December 20-23, 2022 and he took his maiden five-wicket haul - 5/69 and seven scalps in all. He was jointly the third-highest wicket-taker in the season with 12 victims from two games.
"At the beginning of the season, when physio tested every player, Sidharth was declared match fit. The next match after Bengal was in Dehradun against Uttarakhand. He was rested as he had complained of uneasiness. He was picked in the squad for the Baroda game and fell ill before the game," Parmar further expressed.
