It has been three years since Australian cricket lost one of its young guns, Phillip Hughes in a freak accident on the pitch. The 25-year-old batsman was killed after a bouncer from Sean Abbott struck him during a Sheffield Shield match. Cut to 2018, Abbott found himself in a similar incident when his short ball struck helmet of batsman Will Pucovski during a domestic match of Sheffield Shield on Sunday. Will immediately fell on the ground after being hit but it was the 26-year-old pacer playing for New South Wales who was left shaken. For him, the sight of fallen batsman brought back the haunting memories of Phillip Hughes’ unfortunate death. The video shows a visibly shaken-up Sean Abbott as players from both New South Wales and Victoria rallied around him for support.

Playing the match at Melbourne’s Junction Oval, a short ball from Abbott hit the helmet of Victorian Bushrangers young batsman Will Pucovski. The impact of the delivery was such that he fell on the ground, clearly in a lot of pain. While the batsman endured immense physical pain, it was the bowler who looked shocked under the immense emotional pain. After all, three years ago, it was Sean Abbott’s bouncer that struck Phillip Hughes at the Sydney Cricket Ground in November 2014, a fatal delivery that eventually cut short his life.

Twenty-year-old Will Pucovski is one of the most promising lads in Australian cricket. Seeing the young gun in that sort of pain triggered a panic button among everyone present on the field. In fact, this is not the first time when Pucovski has been down and out. The player has a history of concussion-related incidents with the worst when during his first-class debut last season, he was struck in the head, forcing him to miss three months of cricket as a result of the blow.

Watch: Sean Abbott Bouncer Strucks Will Pucovski in Sheffield Shield

And again, after the latest incident, Pucovski was retired hurt, walking off the field with the help of physio and ground staff. But it was Sean who took some time to calm his nerves down after the chilling incident. Victorian captain Aaron Finch who walked in after Pucovski was hit, went up to Sean to check if he was doing all right.

Finch admitted it be a highly concerning moment. In the Sydney Morning Herald, Finch was quoted saying, “Of course, very scary." He continued, “Obviously [given Will’s] history with head knocks, obviously what happened with Hughesy a few years ago, it’s never nice to see anyone gets hit. Sitting there waiting to bat, your heart drops a little bit. Your heart rate goes up, you get the sweats.”

“It’s always tough. Especially [given] what Sean’s been through. You don’t really know what to say, just make sure that he’s OK. There were thoughts of an early tea to make sure everyone’s OK and settled and calmed down. The welfare of players is the most important. You make sure that Sean’s OK, particularly with what he’s been through," he rounded off.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 04, 2018 05:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).