Mushfiqur Rahim hit on the head by bouncer, survives serious injury against England
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim survived an injury scare in the second Test against England when he copped a bouncer from English all-rounder Ben Stokes in their first innings.
In the 53rd over of the Bangladesh innings, Stokes bowled a back of a length delivery that took off after pitching. Rahim, who seemed to be backing away from it, was caught in an awkward position as the ball glanced off the back of the shoulder, crashed onto the side of his helmet and felled him.
As Jonny Bairstow collected the ricochet off the helmet, Rahim fell on the ground, looking in trouble straight away. The English player gathered around Rahim to check him, even as he lay on the ground, holding his head in pain. His parents, watching the proceedings from the stands, had a look of serious concern on their faces as the extent of the injury seemed unclear in the beginning.
The physios ran to attend him while lay on the ground. The support staff even ran in with a stretcher to help him off the ground. However, Rahim seemed to be fine after a brief check by the team physio. He looked groggy after the hit but decided to carry on, much to the cheer of the crowd.
It has to be noted that Rahim’s helmet did not have the extra protection at the back, an addition to the earlier form of headgear that exposed serious vulnerabilities after the tragic demise of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, who was hit on the head by a bouncer and succumbed to his injury in 2014. The new Masuri helmets have an extra black-flap by the side of the grille to protective incoming deliveries that might hit the back of the batsman’s head, or his neck. While the new prototypes are out and are being used by a number of cricketers, Rahim’s helmet was still of the old kind.
Rahim, playing his 50th Test, was visibly shaken after the hit, and couldn’t extend his innings for long, falling to Moeen Ali after contributing only four runs to the team total.
Tamim Iqbal got the innings off to a strong start with his eighth Test ton, but couldn’t capitalize on the start, getting out to the off-spin of Moeen Ali. After his dismissal, the team suffered a collapse, reducing to 202-6 after being 172-1 at one stage.
England are leading the series 1-0 after having won the first Test by 22 runs, largely due to the all-round efforts of Man of the Match Ben Stokes, who took six wickets and compiled a vital 85 in the second innings.
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