A gloom descended on the city’s sports fraternity when veteran ground curator Maheshwar Sahoo passed away at Tata Main Hospital in the wee hours of Sunday after being put on life support for failing health on Friday. The 78-year-old is survived by his widow and four sons.

Sahoo, who was shifted to the Covid Centre of the hospital, tested negative but his condition deteriorated.

“Life support system did not work and my father breathed his last at about 2 am,” Sahoo’s son Anand, a curator at Tata Football Academy (TFA), told The Telegraph Online, adding he has learnt a lot from his father on how to main grounds and wish to follow in his footsteps.

Sahoo was cremated at Parvati ghat in Bistupur on Sunday afternoon.

The city-based curator of sports arenas. who underwent an open-heart surgery in Kolkata four years ago, had a swelling in one of his legs and pain in his hand a week ago, Anand informed.

The landmark Keenan Stadium, which was featured in the biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, was very close to the curator’s heart. He lived at the stadium with his family for years before shifting to ECC Flats in Kadma. He knew the Keenan pitch like the back of his hand and the likes of legendary Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammad Azharuddin and England’s Keith Fletcher appreciated the Keenan track and also its lush green outfield.

Many fondly remembered the curator, an ex-employee of Tata Steel sports wing, known for his simplicity and commitment.

“Sahoo was an excellent curator. A very simple man, he is credited with laying the first grass track at Gopal Maidan as well as other grounds in Jamshedpur and Jharkhand. Sahoo understood the need of cricketers and other athletes. I know the Sahoo family very well,” said Avinash Kumar, former Bihar Ranji Trophy skipper and senior manager at Tata Steel sports wing.

Harbhajan Singh, an Olympian and former head of Tata Steel sports wing, said Sahoo was one of the best curators who has prepared the pitch for one-day internationals at Keenan Stadium. “I feel sad over the death of Sahoo. Besides the Keenan pitch, he (Sahoo) also prepared grounds for the Jamshedpur Sporting Association (JSA) football league,” he added.

Sahoo also supervised the pitch preparations at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi and elsewhere in the state, including Dhanbad.