Himachal Pradesh fast bowler Sidharth Sharma dies aged 28

Sidharth Sharma, the Himachal Pradesh fast bowler, has died aged 28. He died on Thursday in Vadodara, where he had been in hospital for close to two weeks.

Sidharth's last rites were performed in Nangal, Punjab, on Friday. Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu shared his condolences via Twitter.

Sidharth, a resident of the Himachal town of Una, was part of the squad that had travelled to Vadodara to play a Ranji Trophy match against Baroda from January 3 to 6. He complained of breathing trouble during a practice session on December 31, and was hospitalised later that day.

Speaking to Cricday, Himachal left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar said Sidharth had been on ventilator support.

"From January 3 to 6, we played against Baroda, but all of us focused on Siddharth's health even during the match," Dagar said. "We visited him regularly in hospital, but we had to leave him alone in Baroda and leave for the next match [against Odisha in Nadaun from January 10 to 13].

"His breathing problem continued to worsen, after which he was put on a ventilator.

"We are all deeply saddened by his death. Sidharth was an important part of our team, and connected well with everyone."

Sidharth, who made his senior debut in a Ranji Trophy game against Bengal in November 2017, played six first-class matches, six List A games, and one T20 game.

He was part of the Himachal team that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the 2021-22 season, playing three of their matches including the final against Tamil Nadu, where he returned figures of 1 for 34 in his 10 overs.