Ashok Dinda picked five wickets against Goa. (Source: File)India fast bowler Ashok Dinda on Friday backed Ravichandran Ashwin and Jaydev Unadkat’s call for protective gear for bowlers. Dinda had an injury scare after he was struck on the forehead during a match simulation session in Bengal’s preparation for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Eden Gardens earlier this week. After the incident, Unadkat and Ashwin took to Twitter to address the dangers faced by the bowler and talked about the requirement of protective masks for bowlers.
About time that a “face-mask” for bowlers makes its way into all that has evolved in cricket. Its scary how this kind of incidents have become frequent in our game! Hope you good Dinda @dindaashoke .. What do you say Ash bhai? @ashwinravi99 https://t.co/J76hqBgXpJ
— Jaydev Unadkat (@JUnadkat) 11 February 2019
Been saying it since 2011, these kind of incidences never used to happen in the pre T 20 Era. Something has surely changed , wonder what it is🤔 https://t.co/5xasN4IAbZ
— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) 14 February 2019
Dinda, in an interview to The Telegraph, offered his agreement and said, “Cricket is evolving and the bowlers also need some protection. It will be good if we can have face masks or something similar.”
The Bengal pacer further said that maybe the injuries are arising due to the evolution of T20 format. “It could be because of the T20 effect… No doubt that the batsmen are more aggressive in T20s and that has crept into other formats as well,” he said.
Speaking about the incident, the 34-year-old said, “By the grace of God, nothing much happened (following the injury). But it’s always good to be safe rather than being sorry.”
The incident occurred on Monday when a low full toss from Dinda was struck straight back by batsman Vivek Singh. As the seamer tried to stop the ball, it ricocheted off his hand and hit his forehead. The bowler fell down to the ground in pain, before the physios rushed to the spot.
Even though the bowler got back to his feet after a few minutes, he was later taken to a private hospital for CT scan, which reported no significant damage.
