Former Karnataka cricketer S L Akshay dies of heart attack on field at 39

Bengaluru: Medium pacer S L Akshay, who played six first-class matches for Karnataka and made three List A appearances, passed away on Sunday morning after suffering a massive heart attack while playing a league game. He was 39 years old. 

Turning up for Sapphire CC in the KSCA-Nassur Memorial Shield for Group I, III Division match against Bharat CC at the SSLS Kreedangana, Shivamogga-born Akshay bowled four overs at the start of the innings before starting to feel uncomfortable, said a source.

Akshay then took himself out of the attack and stationed himself at the slips, but the pain intensified. He was then rushed to a hospital but was declared brought dead. He is survived by his wife and two young daughters.

“We lost a good friend, firstly, and also a very committed coach,” said an inconsolable KB Pawan, his former team-mate and friend. “He was a committed player too, had the fire in the belly always and wanted to impart the same to the kids. I’m still in a state of shock. Gone too soon.”

Born on 30 April 1987, Akshay wore his first state senior cap in the Vijay Hazare Trophy game against Hyderabad in February 2010. Nine months later, he realised his childhood dream of representing Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy, debuting against Saurashtra where he managed to grab three wickets.

Despite being a whole-hearted cricketer who gave his all on the field, Akshay’s appearances for Karnataka were limited to single digits across formats because of being born in the wrong era. Akshay played during a time when Karnataka was blessed with a wealth of talent like R Vinay Kumar, Sreenath Aravind, Abhimanyu Mithun and Stuart Binny in the pace bowling department.

Then came HS Sharat and Ronit More that virtually shut the door on Akshay’s aspirations of playing elite domestic cricket. Akshay last played first-class games for Karnataka against Haryana in December 2012, while his final List A cap was vs Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2012-13. 

“If someone has come from outside (a small city) and represented the State, that means that, you know, he was good, really good. He was an aggressive and extremely committed cricketer but sadly could not play many games for Karnataka because of the high-level competition he had at that time, you know guys like Vinay, Aravind and Mithun.

But he never complained. Some of them are lucky and some of them are unlucky. It’s just fate that Akshay’s peak coincided with the peak of Karnataka’s fast bowling. I’m sure there would have been a tinge of regret in him, but he never stopped loving the game. He always kept giving back. The fact that he was still playing is a testament to it,” added Pawan, who played 78 first-class games.

Former Karnataka bowling coach Mansur Ali Khan hailed Akshay as a good talent. “He had a very good out-swinger. Sadly, his playing days coincided with some high quality talent. It was eerily similar to my days when guys like Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Dodda Ganesh and David Johnson played. So we could relate. But whenever he got a chance to don the Karnataka, he made a mark.”

The Karnataka State Cricket Association condoled the demise of Akshay.