5 unlucky cricketers whose careers were marred by injury

#3 Nari Contractor

Nari Contractor

Although the left-handed batsman played 31 Tests for India, he would have certainly gone on to play more if it was not for the terrifying incident during a Test match against West Indies.

Pacer Charlie Griffith bowled a bouncer which struck Nari on the skull and he was left unconscious on the ground - a state he would remain in for six days. Blood transfusion helped save his life but he never played for India again.

After gaining consciousness, Nari said that he remembered someone opening the glass window in the pavilion and that distracted him for a brief moment before the ball struck him.

His injury came in March 1962 - a time when batsmen did not even wear helmets. Luckily, there is far more protective gear available for the head nowadays.

#2 Mark Boucher

Not only was Mark Boucher great behind the stumps, but he was also terrific with the bat as well.

Former stumper of South Africa, Mark Verdon Boucher is one of the most talented wicket-keepers to have played the game of cricket. His is another case of a wicket-keeper suffering an eye injury. However, how it happened is completely different.

On 9 July 2012, Boucher was keeping in a practice match against Somerset. After Imran Tahir bowled out Gemaal Hussain, one of the bails ricocheted off the stumps and hit Boucher in the eye. He was not wearing the protective helmet during that time.

South Africa's legendary wicket-keeper was forced to retire thereafter. He featured in 147 Tests and 295 ODIs for the national team besides 25 T20Is. The entire cricketing fraternity had a heavy heart that day as they knew they would not be seeing a top-notch player play again.

Boucher did regain vision after two successful eye surgeries.

#1 Craig Kieswetter

Craig Kieswetter

The English player is the third wicket-keeper on this list. During a county match, a fast short ball from David Willey hit Craig in the face. Although he was wearing a helmet at the time, the delivery was so fierce that it broke across the grille and fractured his nose, cheekbone, even damaging his eye socket.

Even though the injury did not seem to be career-threatening initially, Craig had lost his ability to track balls and therefore retired soon after. Psychological trauma was another reason for his retirement.

A heartbreaking incident which cut short a young career could have gone on to be so big had it not occurred.

The keeper was a part of the T20 World Cup winning squad of England and gave a terrific performance. He was awarded with the Man of the Match trophy in the final. Overall, he played 46 ODIs and 25 T20Is for England. Craig became a professional golfer in 2017.