World’s stirring tribute to Phillip Hughes

On November 27, 2014, the world lost a young talented cricketer who died doing what he loved the most- playing

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. The departed Australian, Phillip Hughes was playing for South Australia, was on a score of 63* when a bouncer bowled by the New South Wales bowler stuck him under the helmet. Bouncers are a very integral part of any bowler’s bowling attack. While some bouncers are ducked, some played, some hit the batsman. This bouncer hit Hughes right under the left ear, which is left unprotected by the helmet. He collapsed immediately on the ground and died two days later after being flown into a hospital and later being put into medically induced coma.  His left the entire cricket

fraternity in shock. No batsman will ever be as much comfortable out there in the middle and no bowler will be as comfortable in bowing a short ball as before. The world responded with all sorts of tributes. We bring you some of the most emotional and probably the best tributes that have poured in for him.

Special 63 over match:

63 not out has become synonymous with the ill-fated Australian Phillip Hughes, which was the score of his final unfinished innings. As a tribute to Hughes, the

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Association of Nepal staged a match in  his memory that comprised of 63 overs in total, that is 31.3 overs for each side.

The match was held on April 11, and combined an Australian team with the Nepal National team.

“Our cricketers and fans in Nepal have united in this desire to pay their respect and celebrate the spirit of the late Phillip Hughes who played cricket with such innocence and joy,” said CAN Chief Executive Officer Bhawana Ghimire during the announcement of the special match.

As a part of the special tribute, a bat and jersey of Phillip Hughes will be taken on the top of the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest.

David Warner kisses the turf as the reaches 63 in Sydney:

Australia and India were playing their fourth test in Sydney. It was the first time the Australian players were playing at the SCG post the tragic incident.

Warner as soon as he reached the score of 63 not out, went across the turf where his ill fated friend lay, bent down and kissed it. The gesture earned a very warm applause from the crowd. He got up, folded his hands and looked up into the sky remembering his very special friend. Hughes was always very special to Warner, and the warm sweet gesture from him, definitely showed the same.

Warner was fielding close to Hughes when the bouncer stuck him and he laid down unconscious and held his hands while carrying him off the field. Warner admitted it was pretty emotional to come out there and play.

Adding poignancy to the occasion was the presence of the Hughes family at the SCG for the Test.

“I had a tear in my eye this morning when I walked out to warm up and I saw the Hughes family up in the stands,” Warner said.

“It’s fantastic for them to be here. The hurt and the pain that they’ve gone through and how much it would have hurt them to come back today.

India vs Australia, first test at Adelaide:

This was the first time the Australian team came out to play after the tragic incident. An air of gloom covered the match. It was still uncertain whether the Australian players will be able to play or not having faced such an emotional past weeks.  Before the start of the test, there was a 63 second moment of silence for Hughes, something that got a lot of people tear-eyed.

A large 408(Jersey number of Hughes), was printed on the ground in white. The Australians wore black arm bands and had a 408 written on their jerseys. He was also named Australia’s 13th man.

Warner was the man who led the tribute with his bat.  Every run from his bat seemed as a way of him releasing his pain, the anguish of losing his special friend He soon reached 63, a very special score, and instantly raised his bat into the skies and looked upwards as he remembered Hughes. The crowd stood up to applaud the warm gesture.

Michael Clarke’s emotional farewell speech:

At Phillip Hughes’ funeral, Michael Clarke very bravely read out a statement on behalf of the whole team. The farewell speech was pretty emotional and caught everyone’s emotions pretty well.

We present to you some excerpts of his emotional speech:
“I don’t know about you but I keep looking for him. I know it’s crazy, but I expect any minute to take a call from him or see his face pop around the corner.

…Is this what we call the spirit? If so, then his spirit is still with me and I hope it never leaves.

I walked out into the middle of the SCG on Thursday night, those same blades of grass beneath my feet, where he and I and so many of his mates here today have built partnerships, taken chances and lived out the dreams we painted in our heads as boys..
…It’s now forever the place where he fell. I stood at the wicket and knelt down to touch the grass and I swear he was with me, picking me up off my feet to check if I was OK, telling me we just needed to dig in, and get through to tea. Telling me off for that loose shot I’d played, chatting about what movie we’d watch that night, and then passing on a useless fact about cows….

…Phillip’s spirit, which is now part of our game forever, will act as a custodian of the sport we all love. We must listen to it, we must cherish it, we must learn from it, we must dig in … dig in, and get through to tea. And we must play on.

So rest in peace my little brother. I’ll see you out in the middle.”

Michael Clarke has been pretty open about his special bond with Hughes very often remarking him his little brother. To come out and deliver such an emotional speech must have been immensely tough for him. Earlier he requested

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Australia to retire his ODI shirt number 64, in his honour, which was happily accepted by them.

Boat names 63 and Not Out:

During the 2015 boat race that takes place between universities of Oxford and Cambridge,  the senior men’s trial boats for the Cambridge team were called 63 and Not Out in honor of Hughes, to mark the score of his unfinished final innings.

Edited By ShuvamKumar