Three Hyderabad Heroes injured

Three players from Hyderabad Heroes, who finished fifth in the recently-concluded Indian Cricket League (ICL), were involved in an accident in the north Indian hill station of Shimla. Allrounder PS Niranjan, fast bowler Alfred Absolem and middle-order batsman D Vinay Kumar suffered injuries when the car they were travelling in collided with a truck on December 14.

Niranjan lost three teeth apart from having 10 sutures in his mouth, while Absolem needed 20 sutures on his body and Vinay dislocated his shoulder.

"After finishing our engagements, we decided to go to Shimla for an outing," Niranjan told the Times of India. "[Abdul] Azeem sir [assistant coach], [Ambati] Rayudu, Vinay, Absolem and myself took a car for that purpose. The driver was a bit too reckless and in fact I had asked him to slow down just five minutes before the accident took place. It happened about 70 km from Shimla. While taking a bend, the driver failed to spot the bus coming from the other direction. Both vehicles collided head on.

"Azeem sir and Rayudu had seat belts on and hence were spared. But we were were thrown forward. Absolom hit the windshield and suffered severe gashes. I hit the steering wheel and took the impact on my mouth. Both of us had bleeding injuries and luckily there was a nursing home nearby. We were shifted to a bigger hospital. I was in ICU for two days before being discharged."

Eight players from Hyderabad joined the ICL, a Twenty20 competition played between six teams in India. Absolem managed just one wicket from three matches, while neither Niranjan or Vinay got a game.