Lahore: Former Australia batsman Dean Jones has died of a cardiac arrest in Indian port city of Mumbai.
Jones, 59, was in India as a commentator for the Indian Premium League, working on the panel of Star India.
Jones had his breakfast on Thursday morning and attended a pre-match debriefing with his colleagues. He is believed to have returned to his room and suffered the heart attack there.
Considered as one of the finest batsmen of his generation, Jones was part of Australia’s World Cup-winning team in 1987. He played 52 Tests and 164 one-day internationals in an international career that spanned a decade from 1984 to 1994.
Jones is best remembered for his performance in the tied test against India in Chennai in 1986, when he fought extreme heat and physical exhaustion to clinch a remarkable double century.
The former Australian ace ended his career with 3,631 runs in Tests at an average of 46.55 with 11 hundreds and 14 half-centuries. He had over 6,000 runs in his ODI kitty with seven centuries and 46 fifties.
Jones got retirement from all forms of cricket in 1998, opting to work as a coach and commentator. He was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2019.
In a tweet, the Pakistan Cricket Board said they were devastated by the news of Jones’ death. It said the PCB offers its heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and the entire cricket community.
Former Pakistan cricket and commentator Ramiz Raja tweeted that he was completed shock to hear the passage of Dean Jones. Pakistan’s former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar also tweeted that he Jones was a gentleman and he admired him.
