Make helmet mandatory for batsmen: Sachin Tendulkar

NEW DELHI: Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday called on the authorities to make the use of helmet mandatory for batsmen at professional level.

The Indian batting maestro, who rarely batted without helmet during his playing days, tweeted a video of an incident from an October 24 Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Kings XI Punjab and SunRisers Hyderabad.

During the game, Vijay Shankar was hit on the face by a throw from KXIP fielder Nicholas Pooran while the SRH batsman was reaching the crease to complete a run.

"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," said Tendulkar alongwith the video.

He then tagged Team India head coach Ravi Shastri in another tweet and said, "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!"

In recent times, there have been demands to use helmets with extra protection like neck guard after Australian batsman Phil Hughes died in a Sheffield Shield game in November, 2014. The batsman was hit below the helmet on the left upper side of his neck by a delivery from Sean Abbott.

Companies have also begun to redesign helmets.