New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS): Veteran journalist Raghunath Rau, who began life as a sports journalist and then made his mark across a range of subjects, died here Thursday evening after a prolonged illness. He was 67 and is survived by his wife Ratna and daughter Revati.

The end came at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where he was admitted a few days ago. The funeral will be held at the Nigambodh Ghat electric crematorium at 11 a.m. Friday.

Rau began his career with the Times of India in 1966 and shifted to the Statesman in 1976. He moved to the Sunday Mail in 1989 and switched to freelancing after it folded up in the early 1990s.

Acknowledged by his peers as a "brilliant and versatile" writer who had a good turn of phrase, Rau wrote on a variety of sports, including cricket, hockey and football.

It was in the Sunday Mail that he first stepped out of the sports genre when he covered the infamous 1990 Meham by-elections during which then Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala unleashed a reign of terror against people opposed to his bid to enter the Haryana assembly.

He was struck violently on the back of the head but survived without major injury.

After Sunday Mail folded up, Rau wrote on a variety of subjects and also contributed editorials to southern Indian newspapers like Newstime and New Indian Express.

He also wrote for IANS in its previous India Abroad News Service avatar.