VB Chandrasekhar was under great mental stress, says police

Proprietor of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) T20 team VB Kanchi Veerans, Chandrasekhar had borrowed nearly ~4 crore from a private bank and invested around ~3 crore in the squad, police said.

Former India opener VB Chandrasekhar is suspected to have committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan at his Mylapore residence in Chennai on Thursday night. He was struggling to repay loans, the police said. Chandrasekhar was 57.

VB Chandrasekhar passed away at 57. (Twitter/ANi)

“The autopsy report has confirmed it as death by hanging and the body has been handed over to the family,” A Jayalakshmi, deputy commissioner of police, Mylapore, said. The funeral will take place on Saturday, family members said. The former opening batsman, who was six days short of his 58th birthday, is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Proprietor of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) T20 team VB Kanchi Veerans, Chandrasekhar had borrowed nearly ~4 crore from a private bank and invested around ~3 crore in the squad, police said after initial investigations.

Chandrasekhar played seven ODIs for India in the late 1980s, scoring 88 runs with a top score of 53. He accumulated 4,999 runs from 81 first-class matches with an average of 43.09 and a top score of 237 not out.

After his retirement from professional cricket, Chandrasekhar started a coaching academy at Kelambakkam on the city’s outskirts. He was also an advisor with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and had famously outbid other teams to bring MS Dhoni into the squad during the 2008 auctions.

“He had incurred heavy losses in running the cricket team, Kanchi Veerans, in the absence of any sponsor since its inception four years ago. Further, the team reached the play-off stage only this year but was eliminated after losing. And recently, the bank from which he had borrowed money by pledging his house as surety, had sent a recovery notice. He was under great mental stress,” said Jayalakshmi.

According to the deputy police commissioner, Chandrasekhar’s wife Sowmya said that he had been depressed over the financial losses and his debt. Although he was drafted into the panel of commentators for a TNPL match on Thursday, Chandrasekhar informed the organisers about his inability to make it, citing indisposition. That was his last conversation on his mobile phone, the police said.

After having tea with his family in the evening, Chandrasekhar went to his room upstairs and didn’t turn up for a long time. When members of his family knocked on his door, it was found to be locked from inside. On getting no response, they opened a window and found him hanging from the ceiling fan.

“The family members broke the door open, attempted resuscitation and rushed him to a private hospital nearby where he was declared dead on arrival. Later, the family informed the police,” she said.

Chandrasekhar didn’t leave behind any suicide note. The body was then shifted to Royapettah Government Hospital for an autopsy. Police officers who visited the house in Mylapore found Chandrasekar’s mobile phone and the notice from the bank to which he owed money. “Preliminary inquiry points to death due to mounting financial troubles. Further investigations are on,” Jayalakshmi said.