Guwahati: A former India Under-19 captain and a member of the Ranji Trophy-winning team in the 2019-20 season Saurashtra batter Avi Barot, has died after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was 29.
He died on Friday while being taken to a hospital after he felt unwell at his home. He is survived by his mother and wife, who is expecting the couple’s first child.
“Avi was at home when he felt unwell. He was being rushed to the hospital and breathed his last inside the ambulance. He was a very lively boy and seeing his talent, I brought him to Saurashtra from Haryana where he started his first class career,” Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) President Jaydev Shah told PTI.
“Avi’s father passed away at 42. He is now survived by his mother and wife who is four months pregnant. It will take a lot of time for me to accept this tragedy,” Shah said.
He was a right-handed batter, who could also bowl off-breaks.
“I am still in a state of shock. He was just 29 and last week we had a state-level tournament Jeevan Trophy where he came and played. I infact told him you are scoring runs, you can take it easy but he said ”Jaydev bhai we need to win it”,” Shah recalled.
Barot played 38 first-class matches, 38 List A matches and 20 Domestic T20 games. He was a wicket-keeper-batsman and scored 1,547 runs in first-class matches, 1030 runs in list-A games and 717 runs in T20s.
Barot was a part of the Ranji Trophy winning Saurashtra team, which had defeated Bengal in the summit clash. He had scored a half century in that match.
The Saurashtra Cricket Association issued a statement to express its condolences.
“Everyone at Saurashtra Cricket Association (is) deeply shocked and saddened on (the) very shocking, untimely and extremely sad demise of Avi Barot, remarkable and notable cricketer of Saurashtra,” the SCA stated in a media release issued here.
For Saurashtra, he played 21 Ranji Trophy matches, 17 List A matches, and 11 domestic T20 games.
