The Sunrisers Hyderabad players were spotted wearing black armbands in the clash against Kings XI Punjab at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium as a mark of respect towards Afghanistan opening batsman Najeeb Tarakai who recently passed away in an accident in Afghanistan.
The 29-year-old met with an accident on Friday and was brought to a nearby hospital in critical condition. He also underwent surgery but it was not enough to save his life.
It was revealed by Australian Michael Slater while commentating that it was Tarakai’s national side teammate Rashid Khan who requested the Sunrisers Hyderabad team management to allow the players to wear black armbands as a mark of respect towards the Afghanistan batsmen who left heavenly abode at a very early age.
Following the tragic loss of the young opening batsmen who played one ODI and as many as twelve T20s for Afghanistan, the ACB tweeted,
“ACB and Afghanistan Cricket Loving Nation mourns the heartbreaking & grievous loss of its aggressive opening batsman & a very fine human being Najeeb Tarakai (29) who lost his life to tragic traffic accident leaving us all shocked!,” the ACB tweeted.
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Najeeb Tarakai Gone Too Soon
The opening batsmen made his debut in 2014 against Zimbabwe and have gone on to notch up runs consistently for his domestic side. He averaged 47.2 in 24 first-class games. The opener represented Afghanistan in one ODI and twelve T20s in his short career as his final appearance for the national side came in September 2019.
Though he didn’t play that many games for his national side, he’s known to have opened the batting alongside Mohammed Shahzad on numerous occasions in the domestic competitions of Afghanistan.
Out and all its a tragic loss for the cricketing fraternity as losing young batsmen like Najeeb Tarakai is a huge loss for the Afghanistan national side.