Michael Clarke reveals that he still has Phil Hughes’ number saved in his phone

It has been over two years since Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes left the world, but former Aussie captain and Hughes’ close friend Michael Clarke still has his phone number saved in his mobile. Hughes died in the hospital after being hit by a bouncer on the neck during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 25, 2014.

The hit caused a vertebral artery dissection, leading to subarachnoid haemorrhage. After battling for life in the hospital for 2 days, the then 25-year old was pronounced dead. Talking at the launch of his autobiography titled “My Story”, Clarke on Tuesday also added that Hughes was the reason that prompted him to pen down the book.

“It’s still very emotional for me to talk about. The incident is one of the reasons for me to write the book. To get through that period, I spent that time writing it to show his family and the world how I feel. I feel it a big part of my responsibility to be Australian cricket captain and lead from the front for my teammate,” the 35-year old said during his interaction with former India captain Sourav Ganguly and cricket historian Boria Majumdar.

“Apart from that, it’s a big responsibility as one of Phillip’s closest friends to be there for his family and for his other friends. I don’t think I did anything different than he would have done for me if I had been in his position.

It was a huge shock for the entire cricketing fraternity and the Australian cricketers in particular. Someone they looked up to and were closely associated with was no longer there. Clarke also went on to say that it took a long time for him to accept that Hughes is not there anymore.

“It took me longer to accept he is not there. I still have his mobile phone number in my phone. It’s still very hard for me to fathom that he is no longer with us,” he added.

Clarke also appreciated current Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s gesture of attending Hughes’ funeral in his hometown, Macksville. Kohli was accompanied by then team manager Ravi Shastri and coach Duncan Fletcher.