&ldquo;The ball hit Warner on the same spot. Fortunately, he had a helmet on. I sometimes tell Nari (Contractor) that, &lsquo;you invented the helmet,&rsquo; &rdquo; Surti told MiD DAY last year. Surti (76) passed away in a Mumbai hospital yesterday after a cardiac arrest. <img alt="" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jan/rusi_1.jpg" style="width: 400px; height: 348px;" /> Rusi Surti plays a hook shot during his stint with Queensland in the Sheffield Shield. He played for India from 1960-61 to 1969-70. Pic Courtesy: Australian Cricket Yearbook 1972 Contractor, who was knocked down by West Indian fast bowler Charlie Griffith during a tour game against Barbados more than half a century ago, paid tribute to his courageous teammate, who was at the non-striker&rsquo;s end at the time of his injury. &ldquo;Rusi was a real team man,&rdquo; stressed Contractor. &ldquo;He and Salim Durrani volunteered to bat higher up the order and that requires courage.&rdquo; To his eternal credit, Contractor has never blamed Griffith for his injury. He has laboured on the fact that he was distracted while facing that Test career-turning ball. &ldquo;Someone opened a window in the dressing room and I thought I would get the problem fixed after that delivery. Something else happened before that delivery. &ldquo;When Griffith bowled the third ball of his over to me, I defended it in front of my face and Conrad Hunte took it on the half volley. Rusi at the other end shouted, &lsquo;skipper, he&rsquo;s chucking.&rsquo; I told Rusi not to shout like that because I felt it was not on. If he had a problem, he should tell the umpire. This was playing on my mind as well. After all, Rusi was a committed player and I didn&rsquo;t enjoy telling him that. I got hit after that ball &mdash; the fourth of Griffith&rsquo;s over and that was that.&rdquo;u00a0

New Zealand in dire straits vs South Africa

When Australia batsman David Warner was hit on the head by Umesh Yadav in the Perth Test of the 2011-12 Australian summer, it reminded Rusi Surti of Nari Contractor's injury at Barbados in 1962

Surti was an absolute team man: Nari Contractor

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Surti was an absolute team man: Nari Contractor

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