Former Bangladesh U19 cricketer Mohammad Sozib died by suicide at his residence on Saturday, November 14, local police confirmed the case.
The 21-year-old was a part of the Tigers' U19 World Cup squad and had gone to New Zealand as a standby player but wasn't included in the playing eleven. The young right-handed batsman was in Bangladesh U19's Asia Cup squad earlier.
He last played competitive cricket in the 2017-18 Dhaka Premier League for Shinepukur Cricket Club. He also played three Youth ODIs for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, in 2017.
However, since March 2018, he did not play a single competitive match and wasn't even included in the draft for the upcoming Bangabandhu T20 Cup.
Abu Enam Mohammad, the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) game development manager, who was saddened by the incident reckoned that being left out of the tournament may have prompted him to take the step.
"Sozib was part of our U-19's 2018 batch with Saif and Afif (Hossain). He was a standby in the World Cup. He played against Sri Lanka as well as in the Asia Cup. It's really sad to hear this," Abu told BDcrictime.
"It's tough to say whether it's from depression or anything else. He hasn't been regular in cricket in the past few years. He became too much Rajshahi centric. He played just first division and (Dhaka) Premier League in Dhaka.
"He wasn't even in the Bangabandhu T20 draft. I don't know if there is anything to be frustrated. He even played a match in Rajshahi day before yesterday," he added.
Khaled Mahmud, the BCB director, said that Sozib was a talented cricketer. "I can't believe what I heard. I am feeling extremely sad hearing the news. "He was an opening batsman who bowled medium-pace, and he played for Shinepukur Cricket Club," Mahmud had said.
