Cricket Malawi operations director Arjun Menon died on Saturday in Blantyre, the association’s president Vivek Ganesan confirmed yesterday.
GBut anesan could not give more details on the cause of death, although reports indicate that the Singaporean was attacked by thugs Saturday night near his residence in Nancholi Township, Blantyre.
“I cannot say what really happened as the police are still investigating the matter,” he said.
Menon. | Courtesy of Criket Malawi
“As Cricket Malawi, we are devastated by this loss because Arjun did so much to the our transformative agenda. All the successes we have so far are attributed to him. This is a very painful loss.”
Senior national cricket team player Gift Kansonkho described Menon’s demise as a big setback to Malawi cricket development.
Blantyre Police Station deputy-spokesperson Mary Chiponda yesterday said she needed more time to gather information about Menon’s death.
Meanwhile, the Malawi National Council of Sports and Tanzania Cricket have expressed shock with Menon’s death, describing it as a big blow to the sport.
A statement from Sports Council, signed by its chief executive officer Henry Kamata, reads: “Arjun was a dedicated coach and passionate advocate of the development of cricket in Malawi.
“His contributions to the sport were immense and far reaching. He played a pivotal role in the growth and success of Malawi national cricket teams on international and regional platforms.
“His professionalism, commitment and vision were truly insipirational and his loss is a devastating blow to the entire sporting fraternity in Malawi and beyond.”
On its part, Cricket Tanzania described Menon as a passionate and vibrant member of the cricketing community.
The late Menon joined Malawi Cricket in 2020 and was at the heart of the sport’s transformation.
His works contributed to the country’s recent outstanding performance on the international stage, where the Malawi Women’s U19 team won the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s U19s World Cup Africa Division 2 Qualifiers with undefeated record and Malawi men’s cricket senior team finished as runners-up in Kenya Quad T20 Cup.
The team also came second in the ICC World T20 Africa Div 2 Group A qualifier and progressed to the ICC World T20 Africa Division 1 Qualifiers in 2025 for the first time.
Born in 1977, Menon was in cricket coaching for at least two decades, according to Ganesan. As a cricketer, he represented Singapore national team before switching to coaching a number of teams at international level Malawi, Chile, Botswana, Indonesia and Singapore.
In 2017, he guided Singapore national team to a gold medal in T20 Cricket at the Southeast Asian Games.
