Mumbai bowler Javed Khan misses father's funeral to face England

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Javed Khan's team mates celebrated as he picked up the prized England wickets of Jonathan Trott and Jonny Bairstow on Saturday but the 22-year-old struggled to raise a smile, knowing that his father was being laid to rest while he played.

While most of his Mumbai A team mates spent Friday evening planning how to use the match against England to push for state selection, Khan had been at a city hospital where his father had undergone open heart surgery.

Khan's long-time coach, Raju Pathak, said the young bowler had been inconsolable when his father passed away around midnight but decided the best way to honour him would be to play against England.

"He was crying the whole night and was in a state of shock," Pathak told Sunday's Indian Express newspaper. "But this match against England was a big opportunity for him.

"His father was keen to see him bowl against England. So he did what his father would have wanted him to do."

Khan played two Ranji Trophy matches for Mumbai in 2010 before falling off radar and he is trying to make a comeback.

Most of his team mates were unaware of Khan's loss and the bowler sent a text message to one of his friends saying he was playing the match for his father, the newspaper reported.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi, editing by Peter Rutherford)