text: has anyone ever died in an international cricket match after being hit by a cricket ball? and what speed would the ball have to be travelling to result in death? on february 20, 1998, that raman lamba, fielding close to the bat, copped one on the skull off the bat of mehrab hossain. lamba, playing for abahani limited after retiring from a long first-class career with delhi, had just come up to forward short leg, and did not wear a helmet, contending that he only had three balls to field in that position.   mehrab, who would later go on to play for bangladesh, was batting for mohammedan and struck a short ball fiercely. the ball was hit with such power that it ricocheted off lamba's head, and ballooned to khaled mashud, the wicketkeeper, who had to backpedal to take the catch.   lamba, shaken and with an understandably nasty headache, dusted himself off, picked himself up and walked off the ground unassisted. when he reached the changerooms, the team doctor laid lamba down, and gave him a glass of water to drink. by this time the hemorrhaging had begun. finally, when the gravity of the situation became obvious, lamba was taken to the institute of post graduate medicine and research, then considered the best centre for neurology in bangladesh. but by then, it was too late.