Krunal Pandya gave a blank cheque to ailing former cricketer Jacob Martin's family asking them to fill any amount | Photo Credit: AP

Former Indian cricketer and Baroda stalwart Jacob Martin continues to battle for life at a Vadodara hospital. He is currently on ventilator support after meeting with a serious accident on December 28. He injured his lungs and liver in the process and is in critical condition ever since. Over the course of last week, the whole cricket fraternity has come forward to help the ailing cricketer including the likes of former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and Krunal Pandya among others.

Sanjay Patel, former secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Baroda Cricket Association, has taken charge of facilitating all the help for Martin's family. He was one of the first ones to come forward to support the family and has since received a word of support from many cricketers - both current and past.

Ganguly on Sunday had assured Martin's family of all the help possible and on Monday he went a notch ahead to transfer funds in his former teammate's favour. The extremely high cost of treatment of the former cricketer had forced his family to seek help from the board and the cricket fraternity.

“I have conveyed to Mrs Martin that she shouldn’t hesitate to contact me if further assistance is required,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by The Telegraph. Martin, a middle-order batsman, made his debut under Ganguly in September 1999 and went on to play ten ODIs for India. He scored 158 runs for the national team averaging close to 23.

Not just Dada, Indian all-rounder Krunal Pandya also made a noble gesture towards the family of Martin as he handed them a blank cheque requesting to fill any amount they want. He added that the amount should not be lesser than Rs 1 lakh. "Sir, please fill up whatever is needed, but nothing less than Rs 1 lakh," Krunal told Patel, as quoted by The Telegraph.

Also Read: Sourav Ganguly comes forward to help hospitalised former Indian teammate Jacob Martin

Several other cricketers including the likes of Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra have come together to support the family in the time of crisis. Indian head coach Ravi Shastri also assured Patel of all the help possible. He is currently in New Zealand with the rest of the Indian team.

Martin played a total of 138 First-Class matches scoring 9192 runs. He played for Baroda and Railways in the domestic circuit and led Baroda to their maiden Ranji Trophy title in 2000-01 season.