XtraTime Web Desk – Indian Legend Sachin Tendulkar has asked the governing body of cricket, International Cricket Council (ICC) to make it mandatory for all batsman to wear helmets all the time irrespective of facing a pacer or a spinner.
He tweeted to ICC that, “The game has become faster but is it getting safer? Recently we witnessed an incident which could’ve been nasty. Be it a spinner or pacer, wearing a HELMET should be MANDATORY for batsmen at professional levels. Request @icc to take this up on priority”.
He echoed his concern when two such incidents involving the ball hitting the helmet happened in a matter of days. Few days back in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Sunrisers Hyderabad’s all-rounder Vijay Shankar was hit on the helmet. The incident happened on October 24, in the 18th over of SRH’s innings, when taking a swift single KXIP fielder Nicholas Pooran aimed a direct hit at the striker’s end but missed the stumps and the ball ended up crashing onto Shankar’s helmet, forcing him to the ground. He was saved by the grille of the protective gear.
Another more recent incident took place on Tuesday, during the match between Mumbai Indian and Sunrisers Hyderabad, when finishing a quick second, Dhawan Kulkarni was hit on the back of the helmet from a powerful throw which shattered the protective gear. Luckily, he was not injured.
Tendulkar also tagged many cricketing boards and Indian head coach Ravi Shastri, who escaped a serious injury after getting hit by a Sunil Gavaskar delivery during an exhibition game.
Mentioning the incident, Sachin wrote on Twitter, “@RaviShastriOfc, this also reminded me of the time when you got hit after top edging a full toss bowled by Mr. Gavaskar during an exhibition game. That could’ve been a grave injury too but thankfully wasn’t!”.
Former Australia batsman Phil Hughes died in 2014, two days after being hit in the neck by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield game in Sydney.