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| Avik Chowdhury |
Calcutta: Promising Bengal all-rounder Avik Chowdhury was critically injured in a car accident on Sunday evening. He has been admitted in the intensive care unit of a private hospital and has been put on ventilation.
“His condition is very critical. He has injuries to the abdomen, diaphragm and the spinal cord with fractures in three vertebrae. His entire lower half has been paralysed. Until his condition is stable, we cannot operate upon him,” said S.B. Purakayastha, the CEO of Ruby Hospital.
Avik, who had been included in the Bengal squad for the East Zone T20 meet in Dhanbad beginning Tuesday, took part in the practice match at Eden Gardens in the morning. Beside scoring 15 off eight balls, he also took a wicket.
An employee of the Income Tax department, Avik has led Bengal at the junior level. The 24-year-old, who plays for Kalighat on the local circuit, made his Ranji debut last season and was also part of the preliminary Kolkata Knight Riders squad. Playing for Indian Revenue in the BCCI Corporate Trophy last month, he scored an unbeaten 110 against ITC in Mohali.
The accident happened when the Toyota Innova Avik was in, along with four of his friends, rammed into a median divider on EM Bypass near Ruby.
The news of the accident sent shock waves through the state cricketing fraternity with several of his teammates and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) officials rushing to the hospital. CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya and former India captain Sourav Ganguly were among those who visited the hospital to enquire about the condition of the player. The Bengal team’s departure for Dhanbad has been postponed by a day because of the accident and they will now be leaving on Tuesday.
Four others — Debopriyo Ganguly, Ritam Gagchi, Priyanka Ganguly and Sreerupa Mukherjee — were also admitted in the ITU of the hospital.
“The girls have minor fractures but the condition of the other two boys is also serious. Ritam has a serious chest injury with respiratory problems due to partial damage to both the lungs,” the hospital spokesman said.
