‘Make helmet mandatory’

Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar has asked the governing International Cricket Council (ICC) to make it mandatory for all batsmen to wear helmets irrespective of whether facing a pacer or a spinner.

During a recent Indian Premier League match in Dubai, Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Vijay Shankar was knocked down after being hit in the helmet by a full-blooded throw from Kings XI Punjab fielder Nicholas Pooran.

"The game has become faster but is it getting safer?" Tendulkar said on Tuesday, reacting to the video of the incident on Twitter. "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.