Manjural Islam, who played six Tests and 25 ODIs for Bangladesh between 2003-04 and 2005-06, has been killed in a road accident. He was 22 and, as such, he has become the youngest Test cricketer to die.
Reports say that he was on a motorbike in Khulna when he lost his balance and collided with an oncoming bus. Sajjadul Hasan, a local first-class cricketer, also died on his way to hospital. Both players had finished playing a match in Fatullah the previous day, where Manjural took four wickets.
A left-arm spinner, Manjural made his ODI debut in November 2003 at the age of 19 and took the wicket of Michael Vaughan with his third ball, the first time any Bangladesh player had taken a wicket in his first international over.
He made his Test debut at Harare in 2003-04 but did not impress and had been sidelined since the series against India in December 2004. His best performances in the one-day format were a brace of four-wicket hauls, both Man-of-the-Match winning performances, to help level the series against Zimbabwe in January 2005.
Habibul Bashar, the Bangladeshi captain, said his World Cup was squad was in shock after waking upto the awful news. "It's shocking news for all of us, he was a friend and a team-mate. The boys are very upset."
...MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE AMEEN
