Afghan player Najeeb Tarakai has passed away due to a road accident at the age of 29.
Last Friday, 29-year-old player Najeeb Tarakai was hit by a car while he was crossing the road from a grocery market at Eastern Nangarhar. He then sustained several injuries which had required him to undergo surgery. After the surgery, he was put under critical condition. Yesterday, October 6, he had succumbed to his injuries and passed away.
Upon learning what happened to their top-order batsman, the Afghanistan Cricket Board posted on Twitter saying, ‘ACB and Afghanistan Cricket Loving Nation mourns the heartbreaking and grievous loss of its aggressive opening batsman & a very fine human being Najeeb Tarakai (29) who lost his life to a tragic traffic accident leaving us all shocked. May Allah Shower His Mercy on him’.
Following Tarakai’s passing, his Afghan teammates shared their deep condolences on social media. There, Mohammad Nabi said, ‘It’s very sad to learn our friend and very fine cricketer Najeeb Tarakai lost his life to the injuries he was suffering from the recent accident. His loss kept us all stunned and speechless. My deepest condolences to his family and all friends. May his soul rest in peace’.
Tarakai had his international debut in the T20 World Cup where the team played against Bangladesh. In his six-year-professional career, he has scored a total of 258 runs at an average of 21.50 and a strike rate of almost 123 in his 12 T20Is. His best performance would have to be when he had scored 90 in the T20 game against Ireland in 2017 held at India’s Greater Noida City. Meanwhile, he has only played ODI.
The 29-year-old also plays first-class cricket where he had debuted in 2014 against Zimbabwe A. He was a consistent performer in first-class cricket with an average of 47.2, six centuries, and a career-high 200 in the 24 games that he had played. He is considered to be the top scorer for the Speen Ghar Tigers in the Shpageeza Cricket League last year. He was also a part of the Mis Ainak Knights’ squad in their game last month. To know more about how cricket is played, visit Betwala.
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