Dean Jones, the former Australia batsman, died on Thursday after a heart attack in Mumbai. He was 59. Jones, who was is in India as a commentator for the IPL, is understood to have suffered a massive heart attack around noon IST.

It is understood that Jones, who was part of the commentary panel for Wednesday's match, had breakfast this morning and attended a pre-match debriefing with his colleagues. He is believed to have returned to his room and suffered the heart attack there.

"It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing away of Dean Mervyn Jones AM," Star India, whom Jones was a commentator for, confirmed through a statement. "He died of a sudden cardiac arrest. We express our deep condolences to his family and stand ready to support them in this difficult time."

Remembered for his double century in the famous tied Test between India and Australia in Chennai, Jones played 59 Tests and 164 ODIs. He was also part of Australia's 1987 World Cup-winning team. He carved a career in coaching and cricket commentary after his retirement from all forms of cricket in 1997-98.

Jones was a prolific batsman across all formats. He made his debut for Australia in 1984, in an ODI against Pakistan, a format in which he would be a trendsetter, and made an unbeaten 40 in an Australia victory before a first Test appearance a couple of months later in the West Indies.

The innings that would remain his most famous came in only his third Test, when he defied the hot and humid conditions to make 210, then ended up in hospital. The story of him being spurred on by captain Allan Border's comments that if he wanted to go off during the innings he would "get a Queenslander out here" has gone down in the game's folklore.

He would go on to make 10 more Test hundreds, including an unbeaten 184 against England at the SCG another double against the mighty West Indies in Adelaide in 1988-89.

In the one-day game he was a player before his time, bringing brilliant running between the wickets, an attacking mindset against all types of bowlers and wonderful fielding. He scored seven centuries, including three in four innings during the 1986-87 World Series.

There was controversy when he was dropped from the Test side in 1992-93, two matches after making the last of his Test centuries, and his ODI career would finish in 1994. He continued in first-class cricket with stints as captain for Victoria and Derbyshire.

He was head coach of Pakistan Super League franchise Islamabad United from 2015 to 2019. He also served as interim head coach of the Afghanistan national team briefly in 2017.

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