Former India Test batsman Vijay Mehra passed away in Delhi on Friday morning following cardiac arrest.

He was 68 and is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

Mehra's death was sudden. He collapsed while reading the newspaper at 0815 IST, a relative of his said.

Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi, under whom Mehra played for North Zone, expressed shock at the latter's death.

"He was a very dear friend and I will miss him. As a player he was limited in talent but excelled within those limitations," Bedi said.

Mehra was the youngest Indian Test cricketer when he made his debut at the age of 17 in 1955 against New Zealand at Mumbai.

He played in only eight Tests but will be remembered for his brave 62 against England at Kolkata in 1962.

Mehra also played another key innings on the West Indies tour that followed, when he shared a century stand with Salim Durrani in the fourth Test at Port of Spain.

He had a successful first-class cricket career, scoring 5614 runs with 13 hundreds in 109 matches.

After his playing days, he served as national selector and later became a television and radio commentator.

Mehra was very recently on air, giving his expert comments for All India Radio during India's tour of the West Indies.

Even on Thursday afternoon, he was at the Doordarshan studio for a programme shoot.

His son Ajay Mehra also played first-class cricket for Delhi and Rajasthan, and his wife Kusum Mehra was a professor at Lady Sriram College in Delhi.