ICC World Cup 2019:David Warner is a great guy, these guys saved me: Jaykishan Plaha, net bowler who was hit on head

On June 8, Jaykishan Plaha, a 23-year-old Indian origin net bowler, was supposed to have a regular day in London. It was a fairly cold Saturday morning, and Plaha was bowling at a net session to the defending World Cup champions Australia.

For someone, who has bowled in the net sessions for India A last year, and for Kolkata Knight Riders during the previous Indian Premier League edition, it was a fairly regular deal to bowl in the nets to cricketing stars.If everything had gone as per planned, he would have gone on to discuss with the players, coaches and his friends, about how he bowled and what all he could have done better. Later, he would have gone back home to take rest, relax with his family and prepare for the next day’s training.

But, it did not go as planned.

“I was bowling well. David Warner was encouraging me when I pitched to him. I was getting a good amount of respect from the coaches and the players. Then, just one hit from Warner came straight at me, and I had about 0.35 seconds to react. I tried to duck, but it hit me on the forehead. I was paralyzed for about 20 minutes, perhaps due to shock,” Plaha recalled the incident in an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times.

Immediately after the incident, the doctors and the medical staff rushed to attend Plaha. The London-born bowler credited the quick action from the medical teams and the hospital in Surrey for saving his life.

“These guys were fantastic and they saved my life. It could have been lot worse. My family was panicking back home, seeing a bit of blood. But after they talked to me, and saw that I was being taken care of, they became relaxed. All the players, coaches and medical staff stood by me and I received plenty of calls from the Australian camp to check up on me... it was great. I could have lost my career, or worse, but these guys saved me,” Plaha said.

After the incident, Warner was sitting with Plaha and missing the rest of the session. “He is a great guy... as they say, do not judge a book by its covers. He wished me all the best, he kept in touch with me while I was in the hospital.”

Four days later, Plaha was invited by Warner and Australian Cricket Team to the Oval for the match against Sri Lanka. Before the start of play, the 32-year-old gave a signed jersey to the net bowler.

“I will never forget the gesture for the rest of my life. It was a moment, I feel, resembling to when a debutant player is presented with the match-day jersey by a legend,” he said. “I hope to be a professional cricketer one day and play against all the big stars, and have my own jersey, but this moment will remain special.”

On England-Australia contest

Being born in England, Plaha has seen the cricketing rivalry against Australia up, close and personal. But on Tuesday, when he attends the World Cup contest between the two teams at Lord’s, he wants cricket to win. “I hope it will be a tough contest. I am not going there to support a particular team. I will be at the stadium to watch what promises to be a great contest.”

Speaking on Warner, he adds: “Warner is perhaps the best left-handed batsmen in the world at the moment, and I would love for him to have a great game. His 166 run innings against Bangladesh was brilliant, and I hope he gets a back-to-back hundred.”