Rajesh Banik, a former Indian first-class and Under-15 cricketer, has died in a road accident in Anandnagar, Tripura. He was 40 years old. The Tripura Cricket Association confirmed his death.
Officials said Rajesh was seriously injured in the accident. He was taken to GBP Hospital in Agartala. He died there while receiving treatment.
Rajesh made his first-class debut for Tripura in the 2001-02 Ranji Trophy season. He also played in the Under-19 World Cup for India. He played 42 First-class matches and 24 List-A matches for Tripura. In First-class cricket, he scored nearly 1,500 runs. He also played 18 T20 matches.
He represented Tripura in many age-group tournaments. These included the Vijay Merchant Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, C.K. Nayudu Trophy, M.A. Chidambaram Trophy, Buchi Babu Trophy, Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy, and the National Under-25 Tournament. He led several teams as captain. After retiring, he worked as a selector for the Under-16 team.
Tripura is currently playing a Ranji Trophy match against Bengal in Agartala. The players honored Rajesh by wearing black armbands.
