Warriors captain Shinde injures neck, stretchered off during match
In a clash of heads, Bengal Warriors captain Nilesh Shinde suffered a spinal injury during his team’s game against Dabang Delhi in the Pro Kabaddi League’s Kolkata leg, held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. The collusion jerked Shinde’s neck, rendering him unable to move as a stretcher was brought forward to immediately rush the athlete to the Calcutta Medical Research Institute Hospital.
In an attempt to block the Delhi-franchise’s Rohit Kumar Choudary during a raid, the Warriors defender went into a head-first tackle, colliding with a diving Choudary. Following the referee’s whistle, Shinde was unable to get up from the spot where he fell. The defender though was seen talking to the match officials while on the mat, before the referees signalled for medical assistance.
Incidentally, two other players for the Warriors, veteran Dinesh Kumar and Bajirao Hodage limped off during the game.
CEO of the Kolkata-based PKL franchise Sandip Tarkas confirmed that Shinde had injured his spine. “The clash actually twisted his neck a bit and injured his spine in the process. He was talking to us when we brought him off the mat, but I made the decision to send him to hospital immediately,” Tarkas said.
Initial diagnosis had found Shinde’s spinal cord C7 a little compressed. An MRI is scheduled for Sunday.
The hospital later said that Shinde had suffered a soft tissue injury to his neck and advised him complete bed rest for two days or hospitalization for the same period.
Tarkas was optimistic about his players’ injury. He further asserted that while the degree of damage is still uncertain, there is an optimism that the defender will recover at the earliest. “While talking to us, he told us that he wanted to get back into the game, but he was struggling to move freely. So he was quite aware of what was happening in the game and that’s a good thing,” he adds.
