Maharashtra’s middle-order and right hand batsman Ankit Bawne did not resume batting after the lunch on the third day of the Ranji Trophy league match against Punjab at the Gahunje stadium in Pune.
The 22-year-old Bawne who has played 44 first class matches since 2007, while trying to move away from a short ball from debutant medium pacer Maninder Singh, turned his face and as a result, the ball hit the side of the helmet and caused a dent.
Play came to a halt and some of the Punjab players, including captain Harbhajan Singh, rushed towards the batsman to find out if he was in control of himself.
Bawne asked for another helmet, which was promptly taken by a reserve player, but apparently he was not in a position to bat and the umpires called for lunch; the over being sent down by Maninder Singh would have anyway been the last before lunch at noon time.
Bawne was batting on 12, he had faced 35 balls, but the seventh from Maninder Singh. He did not come to bat with Kedar Jadhav after lunch. “A doctor and physio have monitored him. He’s tough character and wants to bat. He turned his head and got hit. The helmet did not break, the hit caused a deep dent,” said coach David Andrews.
Maharashtra, 181 runs behind on the first innings, saw Bawne leave at 60 for 2, but recovered a lot with Jadhav and Rahul Tripathi in control of the proceedings.
