5 cricketers who died young?

#3 Manjural Islam Rana

Rana was only 22 when he died

Sometimes we so casually say that some food is worth dying for. Like, for example, ‘that Italian pasta is worth dying for.’ In our country, this great lush of green adorned with uneven and ever-broken roads known as Bangladesh, Choi Jhal is one such dish.

People flock to their favourites restaurants to try out the savoury dish consisting of either mutton or beef with different spices and runny curry. The urge to try it out is sometimes too enticing to let go. So there was Manjural Islam, trying to satiate his desire for a bit of Choi Jhal as he hopped on a bike along with a pal and went racing to his favourite restaurant.

But fate had a cruel twist. Not only could his tongue ever taste another bit of Choi Jhal, he also never returned home as he lost control of his bike and collided with a minibus whilst on his way to the restaurant.

He was only 22 then and died along with this friend, who was also a domestic cricketer for Khulna. That day, he became the youngest Test player to die – a fact I hope no-one ever changes again.

And, no, no food is worth dying for. None.