Former India cricketer VB Chandrasekhar's death a case of suicide: Police

Former India opener and national selector VB Chandrasekhar passed away in Chennai, in a case of suicide, police said on Friday.

It was initially reported that he had died following a massive cardiac arrest. According to a senior police official, Chandrasekhar ended his life by hanging himself at his house in the city on Thursday evening due to debts. He was under a lot of stress due to the debts incurred, the police official added. The former Indian opener owned a team (VB Kanchi Veerans) in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, the fourth edition of which concluded on Thursday.

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The dashing Tamil Nadu right-hander of yesteryears, who was only six days short of his 58th birthday, is survived by his wife and two daughters. Chandrasekhar played 7 ODIs between 1988 and 1990, scoring only 88 runs, but at the domestic level he was prolific for a few seasons, aggregating 4,999 runs in 81 games with a highest score of 237 not out.

A qualified engineer, VB as he was popularly known in cricketing circles, was a member of the state team that won the Ranji Trophy in 1987-'88. The cricketing fraternity across the country was shocked to learn about Chandrasekhar's passing. The Indian cricket board condoled his death and posted on its Twitter handle:

Former India captain Krish Srikkanth, who had opened several times in the past, said he was shocked to learn about VB's death adding he was a very nice person. India and Chennai Super Kings player Suresh Raina condoled the death of Chandrasekhar:

India and CSK off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also expressed his sadness:

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IPL team Chennai Super Kings, for which Chandrasekhar was Director-operations and a selector, condoled the death: