BCCI official reveals the sequence of events that led to Ravindra Jadeja being substituted by Yuzvendra Chahal

The use of India’s concussion substitute in the first T20I against Australia had caused quite a controversy. India had replaced Ravindra Jadeja with Yuzvendra Chahal when they came out to bowl in the second half of the match. But the concussion substitute did not impress Australia as their head coach and skipper were seen in a heated discussion with the match referee.

As if that was not enough, Chahal went on to put a Man of the Match performance, helping India clinch an unlikely 11-run win while defending a modest 161. The leg-spinner picked three wickets including the prized scalps of Aaron Finch and Steve Smith. After the game, Australia allrounder Moises Henriques had expressed his doubt over whether Chahal was a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja.

In the wake of the controversy, several former Australia cricketers had expressed their objection to India’s use of the substitute too. Australia legend Mark Taylor was one of the big names to speak on the matter. The former captain raised concerns against abusing the concussion substitute rule. He said that the rule is for the protection of players and needs to be used fairly and responsibly.

The sequence of events:

The dust has settled down on the controversy now. There was no bad blood between India and Australia players when they locked horns in the second T20I on Sunday. And recently, an Indian team official has revealed that the team-management did not abuse the rule. He insisted that there was no malice in the Indian management’s intent.

He revealed the entire sequence of events during the incident. The official stated that the team made the change to safeguard their all-rounder’s health. According to him, Sanju Samson was the one who first noticed the blow. Earlier, Samson had revealed that Jadeja was feeling dizzy after he returned to the dressing room.

“Sanju was the first one to see it. He immediately informed Mayank (Agarwal), who was seated next to him, that the blow was flush on the helmet. And Mayank then ran up to inform the team management,” the source told Cricbuzz.

“We immediately called for the team doctor and he started icing Jadeja’s head and neck. We were quite worried. But even after a while he told us he was feeling groggy,” he added.

Jadeja received the blow on his head while facing Mitchell Starc in the final over of India’s innings. Before that, he had also pulled up his hamstring in the 19th over. Jadeja was struggling to walk and a section of the fans and expert stated that the leg injury might have been the real reason behind the substitute. The official, however, denied it.

“At that point, we didn’t even focus on his hamstring. It was all about ensuring that he get immediate help. We now know all about head trauma injuries and how dangerous it can be. Our focus was to purely make sure he’s feeling better. And once the doctor had assessed him, we felt like we had no choice but to consult David Boon regarding the protocols for getting a concussion substitute,” the official explained.