Baroda’s Solanki plays on despite death of his father & daughter

Baroda batter Vishnu Solanki has decided to carry on playing the Ranji Trophy despite the heartbreaking loss of his father and his day-old daughter in a span of two weeks. A bereaved Solanki has decided to stay on with the team and play the third Ranji Trophy game for Baroda despite suffering twin tragedies.

The last few weeks have been extremely difficult for Solanki as close on the heels of losing his newborn daughter, he also lost his ailing father on Sunday.

“He (Vishnu) will be playing the last match. He is not coming back. He is playing the third match. He is staying with the team,” said Baroda Cricket Association secretary Ajit Lele. The 29-year-old had become a father on February 10 but the very next day his baby girl died.

However, Solanki showed nerves of steel as he returned to play for Baroda and struck 104 against Chandigarh only to get the news of his father’s death on the final day.

“When his daughter passed away, he came back but he missed the first match because again he had to undergo a three-day quarantine. But now he stayed back,” added another senior BCA official.

Baroda will take on Hyderabad in their last Elite Group B game at the Vikash cricket ground in Bhubaneswar on March 3.