Young upcoming Pakistani cricketer Zulfiqar Bhatti dies while batting

Zulfiqar Bhatti (left) died when a rising ball hit him on the chest while batting

Zulfiqar Bhatti, a rising cricketing star from Sukkur in Sindh, Pakistan, died on the pitch yesterday while batting in a club cricket match after a delivery hit him flush on the chest.

22-year-old Bhatti was a top order batsman and dreamt of playing for Pakistan national team one day. He was batting at his usual position, at No.3 for Super Star cricket club when the tragedy occurred.

It was a local match organised between Sindh Young cricket club and Super Star cricket club at Jinnah Municipal Stadium in Sukkur when Bhatti was struck on the chest on the 2nd ball he faced in the 2nd innings, causing him to collapse on the pitch. He was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

“We were playing a match against Sindh Young cricket club at the Jinnah municipal stadium when Bhatti, who was a top player in Sukkur, was hit on the chest. As soon as the ball hit Bhatti on the chest he collapsed on the pitch and though we rushed him to hospital he was pronounced dead on arrival”, a club official said.

“His only passion was to play first class cricket and then get into the national team. Cricket was his life.

“Just one day before the match he was saying that now cricketers from the interior areas and small towns of Sindh also have a chance of playing for Pakistan after the debut of Sharjeel Khan who hails from Hyderabad,” he said.

A passionate cricketer who loved the game, Bhatti was laid to rest in his native graveyard and his funeral prayers were offered at Dargah Bedil Bekas in the town. His funeral was attended by people from all parts of the town.

He was the youngest of the four sons in the family and had been playing cricket from an early age.

The district government has announced a suspension of all sporting activities in the Sukkur district for next three days after his tragic death.

This is the 2nd death of a club cricketer in 2 months, after a South African club cricketer, Darryn Randall had fell to his death on the pitch when he was hit on the head while batting in October this year.