Aspiring female cricketer commits suicide in Puducherry over non-selection in team

An aspiring cricketer in Puducherry has died by suicide. She was a 19-year-old college student who was training in Puducherry. According to reports, the cricketer has been identified as Angel Gangwani, the daughter of GST superintendent Kashmir Kumar, who has been in Chennai for the past 12 years.

The report revealed that she was undergoing cricket training at a coaching centre in Thilaspet and had recently taken part in the selection trials for the Puducherry T20 Team in Thulipet. She was unable to make the final list, and the report added that it caused her significant dejection, and she became withdrawn afterwards, according to her house owner, P. Durairaj. 

According to The Times of India, Angel had been living in a rented house in Puducherry for the last couple of years in Sokkanathanpet. She was a second-year BBA student, studying at a private college in Velrampet.

Durairaj, in his complaint, mentioned that Angel had returned home at around 8:00 PM on April 29 after cricket practice. When her coach Kathrivel tried to contact her later in the night, she was not reachable.

Growing suspicious, Kathrivel visited her home and found Angel hanging from a ceiling fan. Durairaj mentioned that he and the coach rushed her to the Government Medical College Hospital in Kathirkamam. She was pronounced dead on arrival by the doctors at the hospital.

Mental health awareness and well-being are still problems that have been prominent in sport. Cricketers like Ben Stokes and Glenn Maxwell have taken breaks to prioritise their mental health and to increase awareness around mental well-being in the high-pressure environment of professional sports.

Stokes took a year-long break from the sport in the summer of 2021 ahead of the Test series against India as he was dealing with issues related to anxiety after the passing of his father, Ged, due to brain cancer in 2020. He revealed his struggles and the ways he dealt with them in his documentary ‘Phoenix from the Ashes’.