First India-Oz Test hangs in balance after Phillip Hughes passes away

The first Test between India and Australia that is scheduled to get under way in Brisbane next week currently hangs in the balance after Australian batsman Phillip Hughes passed away on Thursday.

Hughes succumbed to the injuries that the 25-year-old endured after being hit in the head by a bouncer on Tuesday at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney.

As the batsman was fighting for his life, questions were being raised about whether Hughes' close friends in the Australian team would be mentally prepared for the game, which is scheduled to start on Thursday, News.com.au reported.

Earlier, Former Test cricketer Brendon Julian had revealed that the first Test between Australia and India could be cancelled in the wake of Hughes' shocking head injury, that led to the batsman passing away on Thursday.

Julian had said that depending what happens in the next 24 or 48 hours, the first Test would be affected. He believed that the outcome of Hughes' condition had the potential really for Australia to abandon that Test match.

Julian said that he believed it would be very hard for the players to get up for it.

Ahead of Hughes' death, Julian had branded it as an extraordinary situation, saying that it's not as though someone has been hit in the head and gone to hospital and was making a good recovery or something like that.