Krishnagar, Jan. 21: A young man was hacked by his closest friend in a Nadia town last evening over a zero on the batting card and a couple of dropped catches.

Ranjit Biswas, 28, was rushed to the Ranaghat subdivisional hospital and was shifted to NRS Hospital in Calcutta late at night. He died this morning.

Monojit, the owner of a stationery shop at Taherpur, about 75 km from Calcutta, was the skipper of the Dighirpara cricket team in a friendly with Barasat played in the town yesterday.

Ranjit, son of an affluent farmer, was among the cheerleaders for Monojit’s men, who lost a close match.

He was heartbroken to see his friend being dismissed without troubling the scorers and drop two crucial catches.

After the match, Ranjit singled out Monojit and rebuked him in front of everybody. “Go home and play with your sons,” he told the father of two.

“You are only fit to play with children,” a police officer quoted him as saying.

Monojit, the same age as his friend, did not initially respond to the barbs.

“While walking away, he stared at him once. Monojit must have been furious at himself over his own performance. His bowlers were carted around the park by the Barasat batsmen as the skipper looked on helplessly. What added insult to his injury was his best friend’s rebuke,” said Tapas Das, a friend of Monojit and a resident of Dighirpara.

A red-faced Monojit returned home at 6 pm. He landed at Ranjit’s house an hour later.

Nadia superintendent of police Ajay Nand said Monojit asked Ranjit to step out and explain his behaviour on the ground.

“Ranjit told Monojit in his face his performance was so poor that he did nothing wrong by ridiculing him in front of others. He also advised his friend not to step onto a cricket field again. This made Monojit more angry,” said Nand.

Monojit picked up a sickle lying in the courtyard of Ranjit’s house and swung it at his neck.

A profusely bleeding Ranjit slumped to the ground. Neighbours took him to the hospital.

Ranjit’s father Haran has lodged a complaint against Monojit. “Monojit is absconding,” Nand added.

Ranjit had got married about a year ago.

“Ranjit and Monojit were childhood friends and virtually grew up together. I cannot comprehend how Monojit could do what he did,” said his father Sanjit.