In the wake of Phil Hughes getting hit on the head, TNIE brings you other such instances, one of which had turned fatal
Raman Lamba (India): Lamba’s international career was well over, but he was still an active club cricketer. In a club match in Dhaka, between Mohammedans and Abahani, he got struck on head by a fearsome pull fielding at short-leg. Though he was rushed to hospital, he succumbed three days later.
Manoj Prabhakar (India): Two days after he struck a gallant hundred against the Caribbeans in Mohali, Manoj Prabhakar fractured his nose while trying to pull Courtney Walsh’s bouncer before opening his account. He had his nose operated and returned in time for the next series against New Zealand. India, though, lost the Test by 244 runs.
Anil Kumble (India): Merv Dillon’s good-length ball shook off alarmingly to fracture the leg spinner’s jaw in Georgetown (2002). He spat out blood and batted for 20 minutes. He came back and bowled 14 more overs and dismissed Brian Lara with his face bandaged.
Nari Contractor (India): Never to shy away from challenges, the Indian captain bravely took on pacers in the pre-helmet days. But at Kensington Oval in 1962, against Barbados, he couldn’t negotiate a vicious bouncer by the fearsome Charles Griffith. It thudded onto his face and it required a series of surgeries to rescue Contractor, who was unconcious for six days. Two years later, he returned to domestic cricket but was never the same force he had been. A promising career thus ended tragically.
Phil Simmons (West Indies): The dashing opening batsman’s heart actually stopped after being hit on temple by Gloucestershire bowler David Lawrence in a tour match in 1988. He was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent an emergency brain surgery. Miraculously, he recovered in time to play all five Tests.
Mike Gatting (England): Though short, Malcolm Marshall had a dreaded bouncer in his repertoire. In an ODI against England in Kingston, he almost took out Gatting, literally. His nose was smashed and reportedly a fragment of the smattered bone fell on to the stumps.
Mohinder Amarnath (India): A happy hooker, he was struck on the face and head several times in his career. Imran Khan knocked him unconscious with a searing bouncer in the 1978 series before he was struck on his head by Richard Hadlee in a tour match against Nottinghamshire. His took five more such knocks in the series.