Cricket fraternity pays tribute to Phil Hughes on 7th death anniversary; '63 not out'

The cricket fraternity on Saturday mourned the untimely demise of Phil Hughes, the Australian cricketer who died after suffering a shocking blow to his head while playing a domestic game in 2014. Hughes lost his life on November 27, 2014, while playing a match for his domestic side South Australia. On Saturday, several current and former cricketers, including teams from all across the world, took to social media to pay their tributes on Hughes' seventh death anniversary. 

Australian batter David Warner, who had shared the dressing room with Hughes several times while playing for Australia and New South Wales, turned to his Instagram handle to share a picture with the cricketer. Warner captioned the post with Hughes' Test cap number 408. Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke also shared a post on his official Instagram story, where he posted a picture of two candles with Hughes' image on it. "Forever burning brightly in my home bro," Clarke wrote in his post. Steve Smith, Matthew Wade are amongst those who have shared a remembrance post for Hughes. 

What happened to Phil Hughes? 

The incident had occurred during a match between South Australia and New South Wales, where Hughes was struck by a bouncer on his neck as he attempted to play a hook shot. Hughes collapsed immediately and was rushed to a hospital, where he went into a coma as he suffered a brain haemorrhage. The cricketer succumbed to the injury three days later. He couldn't finish his unbeaten knock of 63 runs. 

Following his demise, Australia announced that Hughes' name will be listed as the 13th man for the subsequent Test series against India, and his Test cap number 408 was painted on the ground. After Australian batters David Warner and Steve Smith reached 63 in the match, they raised their bats in order to pay tributes to Hughes. When Warner surpassed 63 in the fourth match of the same series at the SCG, he kissed the place where Hughes had collapsed after suffering the blow on the back of his head. Cricket Australia in memory of Phil Hughes has retired his ODI jersey number 64. 

Image: AP