Cricketer dies of heart attack on the field in Bhopal

Adding to the list of on-field deaths, a young cricketer playing for a Railways department team died of cardiac arrest inside the ground in Bhopal on Saturday, leaving the whole area in shock.

Arvind Honitya, a Railways cricketer playing in DRM inter-railway trophy for Diesel Shield XI, Itarsi against Electrical XI, suffered a cardiac arrest. He was taken to the railway hospital some three kilometers away on a motorbike, where he was later declared died by the doctors.

The incident took place after teams were returning back at the end of the play,

“As the match was over we all were relaxing in the dug-out. He came to me and said he was not feeling well. I asked him to consult the doctor at the ground. However, Hanotiya kept complaining about the pain," Team manager, Manoj Raikar told Times of India.

The Railways ground is near Bhopal railway station platform number one and due to lack of facilities, the 35-year-old was taken to the hospital on a bike.

“I took him on the bike. I did not now that he was having such acute problem," the manager added.

Doctors at Railway hospital said that he had faced the cardiac arrest on the ground. They said, "He had witnessed the cardiac arrest on ground. He came here in acute pain in his chest. However, he died during the treatment".

Meanwhile, one of the teammates termed Hanotiya's death largely due to 'lack of facilities' at the ground.

"When you take a patient who has just suffered a cardiac arrest on bike, one can understand the situation with facilities," a player wishing anonymity said.

The DRM cricket trophy is a tournament that is organized annually by the Railway division Bhopal and sees teams from across the state take part.