Serious injuries suffered by athletes in a game could spell the end of their sports careers, if they do not sideline them for a long time.

In a cricket match between India and Australia on 25 October at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Shreyas Iyer was injured after doing a sensational backpedaling catch then landing awkwardly on his left side, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.

The fall impacted Iyer’s rib cage and abdomen, lacerating his spleen and causing internal bleeding. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors were able to stop the bleeding.

The 30-year-old Indian player, however, would be sidelined for at least two months to allow his injured spleen to heal.

Meanwhile, a bizarre soccer mishap in China badly injured a Togolese player.

During the match between the Guangxi Pingguo and Chongqing Tonglianglong clubs in the Chinese League One on 5 October, Samuel Asamoah was pushed by opposing player Zhang Zhixiong, causing him to crash head first into an LED advertising board at the edge of the pitch, AFP reports.

The 31-year-old Guangxi Pingguo midfielder suffered a neck fracture and nerve damage. The initial prognosis was Asamoah was at risk of “high-level paraplegia” from the injury,” according to AFP.

Paraplegia is the inability to voluntarily move the lower parts of the body.

On 28 October, Asamoah’s agent, Avram Marius, made a shocking announcement of the player’s condition. “In two months, he can play normally,” Marius told AFP.

His club conservatively forecast Asamoah’s return to football in three to six months.