5 cricketers who died young?
Death is a part of life; such simple a fact and yet such a difficult pill to swallow. It happens to everyone, but it is never something we wish for our loved ones. But things are supposed to end, aren’t they? What makes them unacceptable, in general, is the timing.
There is a difference between an 80 year-old dying to a 40 year-old losing their life. While there is loss in both cases, the younger one leaves people in a state of shock due to the age of death. Cricketers, just like every other living being, are pervious to falling prey to the fangs of death.
And there are some of them who left us way too early. With a prayer in my heart for their souls to rest in peace, here are 5 cricketers who died too young…
#5 Hansie Cronje
We shall start the list with one of my most favourite captains of all time. It was a shame that he had to go the way he did. For someone who led his team with such vigilance and valour, the match-fixing scandal is really something that puts a huge black mark on his otherwise impeccable journey as a cricketer.
As a captain, he won 99 ODIs out of the 138 times he led his side – a winning percentage that is only bettered by Ricky Ponting and Clive Lloyd. Only three more captains have won more games in ODIs than him, namely Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ricky Ponting and Allan Border.
However, his career hit the rocks after a match-fixing scandal ruined his name and the South African board banned him for life in 2000. Tragedy struck two years later, however, as on June 1, he became the victim of a plane crash and died at the mere age of 32.