Nipped in the bud, Pelican's teenage cricketer Eklavya Singh dies in accident

A 17-year-old aspiring cricketer Eklavya Singh died on the morning of March 22, following an accident near Peeragarhi in West Delhi when his bike was reportedly hit by a moving car.

Eklavya, who was part of the Delhi under-16 squad, was on his way to a fitness session in the Bosco Public School in Paschim Vihar at around 5 am in the morning when the incident happened. He was discovered by passers-by who informed the police before he was taken to hospital where he is said to have breathed his last.

A talented left-arm spinner, Eklavya wanted to make big in cricket. He wasn’t played even in a single game for the under-16 state team last season.

“Ahead of the last league game, he was promised a spot in the playing XI and asked to be ready, but he was informed on the morning that he won’t be playing. That disappointed him,” said a person close to the player.

A day before the accident, the lad from Rohini had represented Pelican Club in a tournament in Ghaziabad, where he picked 1/23 in six overs.

“He bowled beautifully in the game. I last chatted with him at 3-4 pm just after the match,” said TV Subramaniam, who runs the Pelican Club.   

Eklavya’s family had fallen on hard times last year when his father had lost his job in an Ayurvedic medicine firm. He went up to his father and said that he wanted to give up education and focus only on cricket to help the family.

However, his father admonished him and asked him to keep studying.

Pelican came to his rescue and decided to raise Rs 1 lakh every year from old members to fund his cricket and education. One of the members contributed Rs 25,000 for the first quarter. The club contributed Rs 25,000 from its fund for the second quarter. But before Shyam Sharma, a director at DDCA, could send out Rs 25,000 for the third quarter, Eklavya died.

“He was extremely hard-working. You can imagine that by the fact he was going for fitness at 5 am.

“I am totally shattered today. One of my promising cricketing trainees Eklavya Singh aged only maybe 18 expired on the 22nd March in a road accident. He had played for Delhi under-16 cricket team last year. I had very high hopes that he could go on to play for the country, a very disciplined, sobre and talented boy from a humble background, but God wanted him more because of his great humane qualities,” said Subramaniam to the www.thedelhijunction.com

Tags : Delhi Cricket, Eklavya Singh, Pelican, Road Accident