Haresh Pandya passes away

Pandya taught English at the Virani Science College, but found time to follow his passion of interviewing cricketers who visited Rajkot. He had seen the nascent years of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja in first class and international cricket.

Haresh Pandya passed away in Rajkot on Saturday.

Haresh Pandya, an independent journalist, who contributed to many Indian and overseas periodicals, including the ' Sportstar '  and  the ' New York Times '  passed away in Rajkot on Saturday. 

"He died in unfortunate circumstances,’’ said another local sports journalist, Suresh Parikh, who was perhaps Pandya’s best friend for three decades.

Pandya, 53, taught English at the Virani Science College, but found time to follow his passion of reporting on cricket matches and conduct interviews with cricketers who visited Rajkot.

Pandya, who had seen the nascent years of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja in first class and international cricket, had interviewed Pujara, after he scored a double century, his 12th in first class cricket, against Jharkhand at the Race Course ground in the first week of November.

As a keen follower of cricket, Pandya exchanged letters with Sir Don Bradman and many other cricketers. He also became a collector of cricket books. "When I was in college, I had received a book from Scyld Berry and that spurred me on to write on cricket,’’ he had said during the second Twenty20 international between India and New Zealand at Rajkot on November 4.

Pandya is survived by his wife and a son.

The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) said in a release: "Everyone in SCA is deeply saddened and shocked by the demise of Haresh Pandya, a remarkable sports journalist. Haresh Pandya’s articles and coverage on cricket were exceptional and remarkable.’’