New Delhi: Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday said that players' safety should be of top priority and as a result, all batsmen must be made to wear helmets at all times, irrespective of who is bowling (spinner or pacer).
"The game has become faster but is it getting safer? Recently we witnessed an incident which could've been nasty. Be it a spinner or pacer, wearing a HELMET should be MANDATORY for batsmen at professional levels. Request @icc to take this up on priority," tweeted Tendulkar.
Tendulkar cited the example of Vijay Shankar's incident during the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Dubai International Stadium.
Urging the ICC to make helmets mandatory, the Master Blaster posted a picture of SRH all-rounder Vijay Shankar getting hit on the head by a throw from KXIP's Nicholas Pooran. Shankar was trying to complete a tight run against KXIP.
The former India batsman also tagged all cricket boards in his tweet to make the case for making helmets compulsory. He also brought up an old incident where Team India head coach Ravi Shastri was hit on the head.
"@RaviShastriOfc, this also reminded me of the time when you got hit after top-edging a full toss bowled by Mr. Gavaskar during an exhibition game. That could've been a grave injury too but thankfully wasn't," Tendulkar tweeted.
As per the new laws introduced last year, ICC now does allow the players who suffer from a concussion during a match to be replaced in their team's playing XI. The regulations state that a 'like-for-like' replacement for the concussed player should be made.
