The District Sports Office's (DSO) apathy towards school cricketers could have proved fatal yesterday during the Division final of the boys U-14 cricket tournament between arch-rivals Rizvi Springfield (Bandra) and IES VN Sule Guruji (Dadar) at Azad Maidan.


Players surround IES VN Sule Guruji's Sahil Jadhav after he collapsed on the ground after being hit by a delivery at Azad Maidan yesterday. Inset: DSO official Vasudev Thite. Pics/Atul Kamble 

Chasing a target of 94 runs set by the Bandra outfit, Sule Guruji's left-handed opener, Sahil Jadhav, was struck by the ball twice — once in the rib cage and then on his thigh. The blow to the rib cage, that occurred in the third over, was particularly severe and the impact saw the 13-year-old collapse on the ground.