‘Quiet’ Ankit came to play just two overs before fatal collision
At a domestic cricket tournament this season, Sourasish Lahiri had a chat with the reticent Ankit Keshri. “Disturbed by his silence”, the senior Bengal off-spinner berated the youngster and asked him to “bring in some aggression”.
“He was so quiet. He never spoke in team meetings… I told him to bring in some aggression. He offered a smile. I regret it now,” a teary-eyed Lahiri told The Indian Express.
Twenty-year-old Keshri died on Monday, submerging the entire Bengal cricket fraternity in grief.
The youngster suffered a collision with his East Bengal teammate Sourav Mondal during their CAB senior knockout fixture against Bhawanipore at Jadavpur University’s Salt Lake Campus ground on Friday. Keshri was the 12th man and had come on the field as Arnab Nandi’s replacement only two overs earlier. As he went for a high catch, he collided with Mondal, suffering a head injury and falling unconscious. After three days in two different hospitals, he passed away Monday morning. The cause of death, doctors said, was cerebral edema leading to cardiac arrest.
“We will always miss him. Ankit was so different,” Bengal U-23 coach Joydeep Mukherjee said. “I can’t explain properly. He was always his own man, keeping to himself. Yes, he was silent, but there was a spark in him. Even in his silence, he made his presence felt,” he added.
Keshri spoke very little, but when he did, he drove home his point. “I still remember how he convinced the entire team to bowl first in an U-23 game this season. We had made up our mind to bat, but Ankit simply said, ‘I saw the pitch and we should bowl first’. There was something about him which made you listen to his logic and accept it,” Mukherjee said.
“He was very attentive and hardworking. I had to explain every decision to him. He was always asking questions about his cricket,” he added.
For a young player of that nature, it was hardly surprising that Rahul Dravid was his favourite cricketer. “When he was not playing cricket, he would watch videos of his idol,” said his friend and batchmate Sandipan Das, who has already played for the Bengal Ranji team. Keshri was almost there, having led the Bengal U-19 side and getting promoted for the U-23 squad. He was also picked for the selection trials for the U-19 World Cup last year.
Though not many 20-year-olds have a liking for jazz and blues, Keshri’s iPod was full of music by Norah Jones and Amy Winehouse. It also had many soundtracks from Aamir Khan’s films. “Music was his biggest companion after cricket. His earplugs were always on. He had a big collection. He was a huge Aamir Khan fan — PK and 3 Idiots were his favourite movies. He loved western music as well, but his tastes were a little different,” Sandipan Das, Keshri’s friend and his captain at Bengal Under-23, said.
