Junail Zafar Khan, a cricketer with Pakistani roots who played for a club team, passed away after collapsing during a game. The match was happening at Concordia College in Adelaide, and the weather was crazy hot.
Khan was in his 40s and playing for Old Concordians Cricket Club against Prince Alfred Old Collegians last Saturday, according to news.com.au.
He’d been out on the field, fielding for 40 overs and then batting for seven, when he suddenly collapsed. This happened around 4 pm local time in South Australia.
They’ve been having a real heatwave there. The Bureau of Meteorology said that even at the time Khan collapsed, it was still over 40 degrees Celsius. Yikes!
The Adelaide Turf Cricket Association has rules about this kind of thing. If the temperature goes over 42 degrees Celsius, games are supposed to be called off.
Khan’s club put out a statement saying how upset they all are about losing someone so valued. We were so sad when we heard about the death of a valued member of the Old Concordians Cricket Club. He had a medical problem while playing on the Concordia College oval. The paramedics tried their best to save him, but he passed away. We are sending all our love and support to his family, friends, and teammates during this tough time.
Reports say Khan moved to Adelaide from Pakistan back in 2013. He came over to work in the IT business. What a terrible loss.