Phillip Hughes

Phillip Hughes has had some tremendous highs and despairing lows in a short span of time. It came at a very young age too. He was drafted into the Test team for the tour of South Africa after Hayden's retirement. He was all of twenty when he made a nervous duck in his debut against South Africa in 2009 at Johannesburg. He got over his initial fears soon and made 75 in the second innings. This was followed by a century in each innings in the next game at Durban and Hughes shot into fame overnight. He had become the youngest player ever to achieve this feat.

These performances earned him a spot in the 2009 tour of England for the Ashes. He failed to live up to the expectations in the first two games and was informed that he would be dropped for the next Test. His lack of maturity came to the fore when he went public of his axing on Twitter even before an official announcement was made. This earned him some scathing criticism from the media but he took it in his stride and moved forward.

Shane Watson and Simon Katich formed a formidable opening pair for Australia but Hughes remained as the first choice replacement for either. In one such game as a replacement for the injured Watson, against New Zealand in 2010, he smashed 86 of just 75 balls to help Australia chase down a total of 105. He was recalled once more into the squad for the fifth Ashes Test in 2011 when Katich was injured. He failed to make a substantial contribution then but is still highest in the pecking order after the axing of Simon Katich. He was given a good run that year but could make only one fifty and soon found himself out of the side. He was then recalled a year later and did fairly well at home against Sri Lanka. The selectors gave him a good run in the tour to India but he failed in all four Test matches. He also played the first two Test matches of the 2013 Ashes series but was axed out of the side since then.

The left-hander began his ODI career with a bang smashing the Sri Lankan bowlers at Melbourne enroute to a fine hundred. Though he managed to get only single digit scores in the next three games, he registered his highest ODI score in the final game of the series. This meant that he cemented his place for the upcoming ODIs against West Indies and he did fairly well across 5 games. He travelled with the side for the Champions Trophy and also to India for a 7-match series but wasn't consistent enough to hold on to his place.

In the Big Bash League, Hughes represented the Sydney Thunder and Adelaide Strikers.

In a cruel twist of fate, Hughes suffered a sickening blow on his head after being struck by a Sean Abbott bouncer in a Sheffield Shield game. He was taken to the hospital after collapsing face-first. Hughes had to undergo an emergency surgery before being placed in an induced coma. However, he failed to regain consciousness and passed away on November 27 2014, aged 25.

By Ganesh Chandrasekaran