BCCI-affiliated umpire Sumit Bansal passes away of cardiac arrest

The Delhi-based BCCI-affiliated umpire Sumit Bansal passed away on Sunday, October 10 after having suffered a cardiac arrest. He was 46 years old and his father SK Bansal was an international umpire in the 1990s. A few days back on October 2, Sumit was one of the on-field umpires for an Under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy match.

The match was played between Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh at the Ferozshah Kotla (Arun Jaitley Stadium) in Delhi. Whilst the match, Sumit, unfortunately, got hit by a ball in the face just below an eye by the shot of a Himachal batter. As per a BCCI official, the umpire had to be taken to a DDCA-approved hospital immediately. Post two days, he was discharged from the hospital. However, even then he had swelling on his face.

“After he left the field on October 2, Pranav Joshi, the other umpire, officiated from both ends, and the reserve umpire stood at square leg. Sumit was marked for a match on October 4, but he couldn’t take part in it, as he was being discharged from the hospital that same day. But I spoke to him after that, when he was at home, and he was feeling better,” the official said as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

It is reported that for the first time, Sumit had felt pain in the chest on October 8. And then it got acute as he complained of the same on October 9. Later, he was rushed to the hospital where he eventually breathed his last in the morning.

Sumit Bansal started his umpiring career in the year 2006 

Sumit Bansal stood in one first-class match and 19 List A games over the years. He made his umpiring debut in the year 2006. However, his father SK – Shyam Kumar – Bansal was a known entity for the cricket on-lookers. He had stood as an on-field umpire in seven Test matches and as a TV umpire in two Tests.

All of these games were played in India. He had also featured in 44 ODIs wherein 32 of those matches saw him stand as an on-field umpire. These also included two women’s games, all between the years 1993 and 2000.