Footballer Mahesh Thapa dies after on-field collision

July 10, 2012

Mahesh_Tapa

Jalpaiguri (Kolkata), July 10: As Mahesh Thapa was rushing to play in a local football tournament on Sunday afternoon in Jalpaiguri, his father Chandra Bahadur coaxed him to have lunch with the rest of the family, as is the custom for the Thapa family at their Racecourse Para residence.

"Forget about football and stay at home today," senior Thapa, a retired policeman, had told his son. But Mahesh snatched a piece of meat from his father's plate, asked his parent to keep his share of mutton ready for dinner and went out with his football kit.

The 25-year-old became the latest victim of an on-field collision, this time in a local, unauthorised tournament featuring barefooted players. The incident once again brought to the fore the absence of medical facility that should be in place at any level of sport.

It was a 'khep' tournament, as it is called in these parts, organized by local clubs in which players are lured from other clubs or localities with an 'appearance' money.

Mahesh, who represented Jalpaiguri in junior and sub-junior inter-district competitions, was very much in demand in such tournaments.

According to eyewitnesses, Mahesh, who was playing as striker for Chhayachhobi Club, fell unconscious following a collision with Parasmoni Club goalkeeper Sachin Rai in the match under lights at Torolpara, about two kilometres from his home.

He was rushed to the district hospital, where he couldn't be admitted as no ICU bed was available.

As he was driven to a private nursing home, he breathed his last. The post-mortem, which was carried out on Monday, revealed that Mahesh died of cardiac arrest.

"His condition was very critical but he was alive when he was being taken to the district hospital," said a Jalpaiguri District Sports Association official.

Chandra Bahadur, however, refused to blame anybody for the loss of the second of his three sons.

"This is an accident. It's my destiny... what else can I say now," he murmured, struggling to hold back tears.

Deaths in Indian football

Sanjib Dutta: 1993 Kannur, Kerala

Cristiano Junior: 2004 Bangalore, Karnataka

Allebi Djwrey: 2008 Bangalore, Karnataka

Venkatesh: 2012 Bangalore, Karnataka

Mahesh Thapa: July 2012 West Bengal



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News Network
June 20,2020

Jun 20: Bengaluru FC (BFC) have signed Brazilian striker Cleiton Silva for a one-year deal, the ISL club said in a statement on Saturday.

As per the agreement, BFC have the option of extending Silva's contract for another year.

The 33-year-old, who started his career with Brazilian side Madureira, moved to Thailand where he spent the better part of the decade playing for Muangthong United and Suphanburi, apart from stints in Mexico and China.

Silva, who also operates on the wing, became the first foreign player to reach the 100-goal mark in Thailand and finished top scorer of the Thai League 1 for two seasons. He also tops the charts of the all-time leading scorers of the League.

His biggest success came at Muangthong where he racked up 57 goals in 79 appearances and won three major trophies in as many seasons at the club.

The Brazilian, who was in talks with the Blues last season before the deal didn't materialise, said he was glad to have finally made the move.

"I've signed with Bengaluru FC because I want to be a champion and this is a club that is always after titles. I have that opportunity once again at BFC. I want to make the club and its fans happy. I have been following the club for some time now because we were in talks a while ago. And I liked what I saw. I am looking forward to making my way to Bengaluru and am excited to meet my new teammates, the fans and embrace the city," said Silva.

Silva, thus, became BFC's first new foreign signing of the season after the club had handed extended deals with Juanan Gonzalez, Dimas Delgado and Erik Paartalu.

Bengaluru FC coach Carles Cuadrat said Silva's addition was an important one, given his penchant for scoring.

"Cleiton has a proven track record when it comes to scoring and this is an area we needed to strengthen on the squad. The goals aside, he even has an eye for a quality final pass and we're looking forward to working with him," he said.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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