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Pain and gain two sides of the same sporting coin!

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Hyderabad: There’s name, there’s fame, there’s the moolah, too. With so much gains the world of sports offers, can the pain part of it be far behind? All the good things a career in sports comes with, gets packaged with a heavy price tag dangling around its neck.

If you’re wondering what this price tag might charge, then being away from family, burnout, lack of privacy may all feature in your thought bubbles. But then, the biggest of them is the risk of death that keeps hovering around a sportsperson every single minute.

The most thrilling part of playing a sport is the uncertainty each second comes with. But then, that’s also the most haunting part. Every time a batsman takes guard, he wouldn’t know whether he would be okay as the ball whizzes towards him. In soccer, a player wouldn’t know when a foul would strike him next and how foul the foul itself would be. Formula 1 is the classic example of speed thrills but also kills.

As avid lovers of sports, thanks to the unadulterated fun and excitement it brings, we have witnessed innumerable number of injuries that have sent shivers down our spines. The pool of blood and the creases of pain just make it a nerve cringing experience for us, even when we sit in the comfort of our homes, in front of our television sets. We tear our eyes away, wondering, how safe is sports today?

Exactly. How safe is it? We think sports and we not just think of the games and the players, we also think about how modernised the whole system has become, thanks to the immense technology that’s being stashed in it, trying to make things more efficient and safer. More efficient, alright, but safer? Not quite.

Very recently, the match between Pakistan and New Zealand swept all the headlines. You ask why? Because of a certain Ahmed Shehzad. Not because he stormed off to his career-best of 176, but because he was rushed to the hospital, a Corey Anderson beamer fracturing his skull. Yes! His skull. Although he seems to be out of danger, yet, it makes us wonder what good do those notoriously high-priced helmets even do?

It wasn’t long back when 23-year-old footballer Peter Biaksangzuala died on the field, while celebrating a goal for Bethlehem Vengthlang, a club in the North East India. It seems the lad had landed awkwardly while performing a somersault, which resulted in damages to his spinal cord and causing death instantly.

Remember that time when Mark Boucher got hit on his eye? That resulted in severe damage if his lens, iris, pupil and even retina of his left eye. An abrupt end to a blistering career was inevitable. Like Boucher himself said, life became difficult, thanks to the physical pain, the unexpected loss of a career and risk of ruining the other eye too.

The list of injuries and deaths in Formula 1 is endless. Ever since racing took the world by storm, so did the number of crashes and fatal injuries. Racer Dale Earnhardt died instantly upon a last-lap collision in the 2001 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2001. The blunt force trauma to the head that he sustained drained the life out of him instantly.

Back in 2007, it seemed like it was all over for Chelsea’s John Terry. After having been accidentally kicked by Abou Diaby during Chelsea’s 2-1 Carling Cup triumph over Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium, Terry lost consciousness and as per witnesses’ word, turned blue. Terry had swallowed his tongue, but then recovered quickly.

A pool of blood, a couple of broken bones, a disability, the faint smell of medicines and the pricks of a needle is something that sportspersons get accustomed to.

So, the next time you imagine yourself being on the field, in the shoes of the sportspersons you adore, also imagine yourselves on the hospital beds, because ladies and gentlemen, no technology can intervene with destiny and characteristics of sports. It’s a world where every bit of everything you’ve earned can all be over in a fleeting second. Meanwhile, hats off to all the sportspersons, who are willing to take that risk, every single day!

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