He was rushed there from Holy Family Hospital, where he had been admitted unconscious with cerebral malaria on Tuesday, for diagnosis but within a couple of hours of arriving, doctors declared him dead.

The duty doctor at the Renal hospital told reporters that the young cricketer's kidneys and brain had stopped functioning.

It is believed Bashir while on vacation in Rangamati after the Corporate Cricket League, contracted the malaria.

Coach Jalal Ahmed Chowdhury, who had been working with the young cricketer for the last eight years, broke the news of Bashir's death.

"It was too late when he was rushed to Renal Hospital," said Jalal, who was almost speechless at the death of his beloved player.

In fact some of Bashir's relatives throughout the morning had apparently asked the doctors at the Holy Family to send him elsewhere for better treatment.

Some of Bashir's mates pointed fingers at the coaching staff of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's High Performance Unit for allowing him to train despite having a fever.

"He had been suffering from fever from June 8 and still was allowed to take part in training. Obviously they didn't realise how ill he was," said a distraught friend of Bashir.

In his short career, he appeared in 15 first-class matches and had been a loyal player for Dhanmondi Club in the Dhaka league.