Afghan cricketer Najeeb Tarakai, critically injured in road accident, dies

Tarakai was hit by a car on Friday when he was crossing a road in Jalalabad

najeeb-tarakai-acb-twitter-crop Najeeb Tarakai | via Twitter/@ACBofficials

Afghanistan cricketer Najeeb Tarakai, who was in a critical condition after sustaining life-threatening injuries in a road accident, has died at a hospital in Nangarhar, where he was being treated. He was 29.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board, early on Tuesday, confirmed the news on its official Twitter account.

“ACB and Afghanistan Cricket Loving Nation mourns the heart breaking & grievous loss of its aggressive opening batsman & a very fine human being Najeeb Tarakai (29) who lost his life to tragic traffic accident leaving us all shocked. May Allah Shower His Mercy on him,” ACB tweeted.

Tarakai was hit by a car on Friday when he was crossing a road in Jalalabad. He was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he was in a coma and remained in critical condition. He subsequently underwent surgery.

The Afghanistan national team’s ex-media manager Ibrahim Momand and the ACB had tweeted on Saturday that necessary steps are being taken to ensure Tarakai was shifted to Kabul or any other neighbouring countries where he would receive advanced treatment.

Tarakai made his international debut for Afghanistan in 2014 against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup. He has represented Afghanistan in one ODI and 12 T20Is. In T20 cricket, his highest score has been 90 which he made against Ireland at Greater Noida in 2017.

He last played competitive cricket in the Shpageeza Cricket League last month.

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