November 27, 2019, will mark five years since cricket lost a brilliant and talented batsman in Australia’s Phil Hughes. The opener was hit on the back of his head by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match and collapsed on the pitch. He passed away a few hours later in the hospital despite undergoing surgery to relieve pressure on his skull.
Doctors later revealed that the impact of the ball had severed an artery in his vertebrae and caused hemorrhage. He went into a coma and didn’t wake up from it. Australia was hosting India for a four-match Test series and the encounters were postponed to let the friends of Hughes grief.
Meanwhile, Australia played a Test against India at Adelaide days after his death and Steve Smith scored a century and went to the 408 number (Hughes’ Test cap number) on the field and paid a tribute to his dear friend. He recalled the entire sequence of events ahead of match against Pakistan.
“It was kind of a carefree week if that makes sense, cricket wise. It was sort of like, this is actually almost irrelevant in a way. We’re just going out and doing what we were doing and we actually played really well. But it was literally like we were just playing because that’s what we’re here to do. There wasn’t really any sort of too much emotion around our performances and how we wanted to play if that makes sense,” He spoke ahead of Test against Pakistan in Adelaide.
“Batting wise some pretty fond memories. I think I played well, got a 162 I think it was. And I remember getting my hundred and going over to the 408 on the ground and raising my bat and paying tribute to our mate we lost a few days before. I think some of the boys here were pretty close to Phil and five years actually it’s gone pretty quick. I dare say some of the boys will reflect and think about our little mate that’s for sure,” he further added.
He also mentioned, “You have little moments that come up every now and then, things that remind you of him and things like that. Comes up every now and then.”
(Hindustan Times inputs)
