Three recent instances when a player batted despite serous injuriesÂ
It is common for players to get injured while playing cricket for their countries. Injuries have plagued even many legends of the game at some point or the other of their careers. Although sometimes players have had to miss the rest of the match, some players played despite a severe injury. In fact, when a player bats despite an injury, the entire world lauds his efforts. Let's look at three recent instances where a player batted despite an injury.
(Instances from domestic cricket trophies have not been considered for this post).
Kedar Jadhav (CSK vs MI IPL 2018)
Batting first, Mumbai Indians got off to a poor start by losing both of their openers cheaply within the first powerplay. But, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan joined hands to revive Mumbai's innings. Once they got dismissed, it looked as if CSK would run away with the game, but thanks to a quickfire inning of 41 off 23 balls by Krunal Pandya, the Indians got to a decent score of 164. In reply, CSK got off to a poor start with their top 4 all being dismissed for under 25 runs.
CSK's miseries continued as Kedar Jadhav retired hurt due to an injured hamstring, but Dwayne Bravo notched up his first t20 half-century in 2 years and nearly took CSK across the line. Once he was dismissed for 68 off just 30 balls.
With CSK needing seven runs off the last over with one wicket remaining Mustafizur Rahman bowled three dot balls in a row but then Kedar Jadhav whacked the next ball for 6. The equation boiled down to 1 run of 2 deliveries, and Kedar Jadhav took his side home with a four off the next ball. The hamstring injury he suffered ruled him out of the IPL and the subsequent tour of England
Tamin Iqbal (Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh, Asia Cup Opening Match)
Bangladesh began their Asia Cup campaign in the worst possible note as Lasith Malinga on his comeback game scalped two wickets in his very first over. But, Mushfiqur Rahim kept strong at one end as wickets kept tumbling at the other. Mushfiqur Rahim did manage to find a partner in Muhamed Mithun but didn't have any support after his dismissal. Mushfiqur eventually got dismissed for 144 runs.
But thanks to some lower order contributions and Tamim Iqbal holding fort with a broken wrist at the other end, Bangladesh managed to get a sizeable total of 261. In reply, Sri Lanka was all out for a paltry 124 with Mashrafe Mortaza and Mustafizur Rahman picking 2 wickets. This was a great example of bravery and this injury ruled him out of the entire tournament
Kedar Jadhav (India vs Bangladesh Asia Cup final)
Kedar Jadhav appears for the 2nd time in this list in what as the most recent instance of a player batting despite an injury. Bangladesh was put in to bat first and got off to a good start with an opening stand of 120 runs.
However, Kedar Jadhav, with his off-spin took a crucial wicket of Mehidy Hasan who was middling the ball nicely. A couple of overs later Yuzvendra Chahal took the wicket of Imrul Kayes and Jadav contributed with another wicket in the form of Mushfiqur Rahim. The score became 139 for 3. After a lack of contributions from the other batsmen, Bangladesh was finally bundled out for 222 runs.
Later, in the second innings, Rohit Sharma got the team off to a good start but they lost a few quick wickets. Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni steadied the ship but were dismissed in the space of a few overs. Afterwards, Kedar Jadhav in the company of Kuldeep Yadav brought India across the line. Kedar Jadhav sustained a hamstring injury while batting but yet managed to take a single off the last ball to win the game for India. This hamstring injury ruled him out of the first half of the West Indies tour of India 2019.