Phillip Hughes: United in grief - it's the spirit of cricket that binds us
How many times have you seen a player perish on a cricket field? It's a field where a cricketer steps out to show his set of skills, on which he aspires to become a champion one day. The field is meant to be a place to play, perform and celebrate. You lose one day and wake up another day dusting your pants off and giving it another shot. You cherish glory and you regret losing. The whole game is about emotions. It's a platform to perform and get applause from the audience. It certainly isn't a place to die.
When tragedy strikes sport
As tragic as it gets, the sudden death of a sportsman who I seldom watched playing on the TV screen, someone who is not even my countryman, left me shaken. A game that crosses all boundaries and borders as they say, leaving me to wonder how a beautiful game can be so destructive at times. Do you remember the time when you handled the cricket ball for the first time? The beauty of its aesthetics, the glowing red colour, shiny appearance.
However, this tragedy has left us wondering whether this ball is actually a source of joy or if some day it might take another life. This particular incident might have prompted batsmen to check their helmets before taking guard. There might be a cloud of doubt in their mind. How beautiful is the sight of a fast bowler attempting to get a batsman stranded on his back foot with the help of extra bounce off the pitch.
Will the bouncer return?
Now, such bowlers will think twice before bowling short-pitched stuff, wondering whether their deliveries could cause a life-threatening injury to the batsman. Every wound leaves its impact. There might be a debate to ban the bouncer, but putting a barrier isn't a solution. Phillip Hughes was unlucky and we all cricket fans need to deal with it.
This death has not only caused misery, but it will haunt everyone in the realm of cricket in the coming days. The whole cricket fraternity is in mourning at this point of time. Everyone are sending their tributes to a martyr sportsman by putting their bats out. There is a reason why cricket is called as a gentleman's game. If you heard Australian captain Michael Clarke’s speech at Hughes’s funeral, you would have realised the spirit and emotions of cricket that adheres us together.
As they say, life moves on. Some day, the bouncer will be bowled with all its ferocity again, it will take off from the ground digging some red soil on its way and leave a spot behind. Cricket will overcome this grief with time.