Five of the most severe on-field injuries in cricket
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Cricket is never intended to be a blood sport, but its physical threat has always been a cause for concern since its inception and has led to changes in the rules many a time. But despite all that the sport hasn’t been free from severe injuries every once in a while.
Yesterday, two accidents happened on the cricket field in two different matches. In a Big-Bash league game, Australian wicketkeeper Peter Nevill suffered a blow to his jaw in a bizarre accident while keeping wickets for BBL side Adelaide Strikers on Monday. Nevill was watching the ball run towards the mid-wicket region when the bat slipped from batsman Brad Hodge's hands and hit him.
In another instance, Bangladesh batsman Mushfiqur Rahim was hit by a bouncer behind the left ear on the fifth day of the first Test against New Zealand at
Here, we look at five such severe on-field accidents, which sent cricket world into a shock.
1. Phillip Hughes
This has to be the most horrible on-field accident of modern-day cricket. The Australian batsman succumbed to death after facing a serious head injury sustained during a Sheffield Shield match in Sydney.
Hughes was struck on the head by a bouncer from pacer Sean Abbott during the match between South Australia and New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Australia, which left him with a ruptured artery for which he was being rushed to a hospital. Despite the prayers of fans all over the world, Hughes, one of Australia’s most loved cricketers, had to face the ultimatum of life on 26th November 2014, just two days shy of his 26th birthday.Â
Hughes’ death was a tragedy and a bloody realization of the dangerous side of the sport.Â
2. Raman Lamba
Former India international Raman Lamba was hit on the head while fielding during a club match in Dhaka. Standing at short-leg, pretty close to the batsman, Lamba sustained a serious brain injury and went into a coma, three days after the incident and nothing could save him from the cruel death.Â
During his career, Lamba was a prolific scorer in first-class cricket, with two triple-centuries and a Ranji Trophy average of 53. He was one of the most loved cricketers, not only in India but also in Bangladesh, where he used to play club cricket.Â
 © Getty3. Ankit Keshri
Former Bengal Under-19 skipper Ankit Keshri died on 20th April 2015 after having faced a freakish accident on the cricket field, in which he had collided with his team-mate Sourabh Mondal while trying to pouch a catch and had to be taken to the hospital after he stopped breathing briefly. On 20th April, Keshri had suffered a cardiac arrest and breathed his last, leaving Indian cricket in a shock.Â
This incident had occurred during a Division One knock-out match of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) between East Bengal and Bhowanipore at the Jadavpur University Campus in Kolkata. Keshri was a promising cricketer and was even included in the India Under-19
 © Getty4. Mark Boucher
Considered as one of the most celebrated and finest keepers of modern-day cricket, Mark Boucher was well on course to achieve a truly spectacular landmark against England at Lord's.
In a practice game against Somerset, Boucher was behind the stumps when a googly from Imran Tahir hit the stumps and the
Had it not been for the career-ending eye injury during the practice game against Somerset, Boucher would have played his 150th Test match and even could have taken his behind-the-wicket dismissals to 1000. But the crux of the irony was that he had to contend with 149 matches with 998 dismissals, as he never returned to play a game of cricket after that.
5. Saba Karim
Former India wicketkeeper Syed Saba Karim had sustained a serious eye injury in the 2000 Asia Cup off the bowling of Anil Kumble. In the opening match of the tournament against Bangladesh, a rising delivery from Anil Kumble deflected off the pad of former Bangladeshi skipper Habibul Bashar and struck the Bengal wicket-keeper’s eye.
Karim was admitted to a hospital with retinal
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