A cricket player in Mumbai, India, passed away after being struck by a ball while fielding.

The 52-year-old cricketer was fielding when the ball from a different match being played on an adjacent pitch struck him.

The player reportedly had his back towards the other match and the ball struck him behind the ear.

An eyewitness said that the player immediately fell down after being struck and was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead.

The Kutchhi Visa Oswal Vikas Legend Cup is a tournament for players above 50 years old. However, time and space concerns at the Dadkar Maidan forced two games to be played simultaneously.

The police report filed for the incident has labelled the incident as an accident. An autopsy was also carried out which ruled out an intentional hit leading to death.

A report by NDTV said that such incidents have been known to happen. However, it is probably the first instance where a person had actually died.