A really sad event took place this Tuesday during a cricket match in Mumbai, leaving everyone in the local cricket scene shaken and heartbroken. It was the 11th over of the Bhama Cup Under-19 tournament match between KRP XI CC and Crescent CC at the Sundar Cricket Club ground when the umpire, Prasad Malgaonkar, who was 60 years old, suddenly collapsed while he was officiating at square leg. Despite being rushed to Bombay Hospital right away, the doctors sadly pronounced him dead when he arrived.
According to a report from Mid-Day, Prasad Malgaonkar had just taken his spot at square leg for the 11th over. Tragically, he passed away after just two balls. Before the match, Prasad mentioned that he was feeling a bit of acidity. Umpire Parthamesh Angane shared his concern, saying, “He wasn’t feeling great before the match and complained a lot about acidity. I told him to take a break if he wasn’t feeling well, but he insisted that he was okay. He seemed fine during the first ten overs, but shortly after the 10.2 over mark, he collapsed and couldn’t breathe.” Parthamesh also talked about how Datta Mithbavkar, the MCA coordinator, acted quickly to rush Prasad to the hospital.
This unfortunate event has hit the cricket community hard, and players and organizers were all trying to pitch in to help Prasad, but it was too late. Surendra Harmalkar, a member of the MCA Apex Council and Coordinator for the Umpire Committee, expressed his deep sorrow over what happened.
A doctor from the Casualty Ward at Bombay Hospital mentioned that when they brought Prasad in, his blood pressure and oxygen levels were undetectable. An ECG showed no activity, and they found that his pupils were dilated. Sadly, he was confirmed to be dead upon arrival. The hospital later noted that a postmortem wasn’t done because his family had already obtained a death certificate from their family doctor.
Mithbavkar spoke further about the efforts they made to get Prasad to the hospital quickly. “We really tried our best to get him to Bombay Hospital as fast as we could. With help from Ibrahim sir and players like Salman Khan, Barun Saw, and Pravin bhai, we carried him on a charpai from the Sunder CC pitch to the nearby National CC, and from there we managed to grab a taxi to the hospital. But honestly, I think he may have passed away before we even arrived at the hospital,” he said, as quoted by Mid-Day.
This whole situation has brought a wave of sorrow over the cricket community, as they all remember a fellow member who dedicated his time to the sport, and their hearts are heavy with loss.
