Arun Kumar

New Delhi: Tragedy struck HAL football team on Friday when one of their goalkeepers, Arun Kumar, died of heart attack in Bangalore.

Twenty-three-year old Kumar, who joined HAL from Viva Kerala this season, breathed his last at the HAL Medical Complex hospital where he was undergoing treatment for a cracked shinbone.

A reserve custodian with the I-League team, Kumar suffered a shinbone injury during practice after colliding with teammate Ankit Sharma on Wednesday and went to HAL hospital for treatment. According to HAL football team sources, the footballer had his leg plastered and was recovering well.

On Friday morning, Kumar complained of severe chest pain and passed away around 11 am.

“Kumar was a highly talented goalkeeper, who was improving every day,” said J. Murali, the captain of HAL. “All of us were expecting Kumar to become an asset for the team in the next couple of seasons. It’s a huge loss for us,” he said.

Ankit said he was shocked at the turn of events. “After he collided with me on the field, he had his plaster done. He was fine till last night (Thursday) but suddenly developed chest pain in the morning," said Ankit.

Kumar was a nephew of former goalkeeper P. Rajan, who played a couple of seasons in Calcutta before joining Bangalore side BEML.