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Journalism of Courage
West Indies skipper Brian Lara had to leave the field after suffering a nasty blow on the neck by a bouncer from Shoaib Akhtar today.
Lara took his eye off the ball, delivered at around 95 miles per hour, ducked and tumbled to the ground writhing in pain. He lay on the pitch for sometime as he received treatment from West Indies physio Andrew Simpson before deciding to retire to the dressing room.
Shoaib, who rushed to the batsman immediately as he fell to the ground, said he was sorry to have hit him. ‘‘I am sorry. Maybe I was a little bit excited as in eight previous matches I had not bowled against him. I am sorry I hit him,’’ he said.
Lara did not attend the prize ceremony although his condition was said to be stable. ‘‘He is all right. He is having some treatment but he’ll be fine for the final,’’ said vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan. — PTI
