Phil Hughes: In sports accidents happen

Australian batsman Phil Hughes, 25, has died two days after being hit on the head by a delivery during a match in Sydney.

The left handed batsman played 26 Tests and 25 ODIs for Australia, was hit on the side of his helmet on Tuesday by a nasty bouncer from Sean Abbott in a Sheffield Shield game after which the doctors took over.

It seems just like yesterday that millions of Formula One fans were praying for legendary world champion Michael Schumacher to recover from a ski crash in France last December. Today, there are all kinds of rumours doing the rounds about Schumi’s health: Some say he has become a ‘vegetable’ and the rest say he is going to spend his lifetime on a wheelchair, unable to talk.

Till the very end, Phil Hughes had every by his side, from family members to Australian captain Michael Clarke besides, of course, a big team of doctors that was attending to him.

Sportspersons are born fighters and Hughes is said to have fought it out bravely.

It’s strange how accidents occur. When you play outdoor sport, the chances of injuries are there every minute. Take the case of Schumacher. When he raced miles and miles on Formula One tracks at various tricky venues, he was the best. Fate willed and he met with a skiing accident where his helmet broke and he cracked his skull.

Then again be it track and field, athletics, hockey or any other sport, tearing a muscle or breaking a bone is so common. In cricket, there is a huge risk for the batsman, bowler, fielder, the wicketkeeper and even the umpires. They can be hit by the red or white ball when least expected, as was the case when our own Raman Lamba took a hit during a league game in Bangladesh when he was fielding at forward short leg. Tragically, Lamba was put on life support before a decision was taken to shut off the support machines.

There are well known cases of Nari Contractor and Tiger Pataudi also being hit by the ball. In MAK Pataudi’s case he lost vision in one eye and still led India in Tests with aplomb.

When fast bowlers run in and bounce the ball, the intention is to ruffle the batsman. As it were, cricket is seen as an uneven contest where the bowlers’ suffer the most.

In Phil Hughes’ case Abbott released the ball at close to 154 kmph. Aussie batsmen know how to deal with such fiery stuff and the left handed Hughes is a seasoned pro. There are enough videos and images on the internet of the incident and it makes you feel weak.

I, as a former club fast bowler, can tell you that each time I let the ball fly at the batsman, the intention was to get the batsman out or not allow him to score runs. In Hughes’ case, this was sheer fate he was wearing an old helmet.

To say that if he had been wearing a new brand helmet and he would have been protected, is wishful thinking. This is cricket and incidents like these do happen. Then again, what happened at the SCG was a freakish incident, or an accident.

This is not like a heavyweight boxer dancing in the ring to bloody the nose of his opponent or just knock him out. The Hughes’ incident has shocked the cricketing fraternity around the world. And I am sure Virat Kohli and his boys would do well to check their headgear, elbow protection guards and whatever else they wear to take care of their precious frames before the first Test begins in Brisbane next week.

Rest in peace, Phil.