Gautam Gambhir, who is the staunchest critics of the Indian team, has supported the decision of bringing Yuzvendra Chahal as Ravindra Jadeja’s like-for-like replacement in the first T20I against Australia in Canberra. According to him, India has not taken any wrong move because ICC’s match referee David Boon had approved for the concussion substitute.
In the 20th over of India’s innings, the 31-year-old Jadeja was hit on the helmet after a delivery from fast bowler Mitchell Starc bounced off his bat.
During the break, the medical team found out about Jadeja’s concussion as confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a statement. He has subsequently been ruled out of the remaining matches. It’s also pertinent to note that the veteran is recovering from a hamstring injury.
Talking to ESPNCricinfo, Gautam Gambhir admitted that Australia’s head coach Justin Langer getting angry over Yuzvendra Chahal’s inclusion is justified because the leg spinner is a wicket-taker and considering the pitch was favouring the spinners, Australia was going to be hurt badly. And similarly happened, Chahal picked crucial wickets of Aaron Finch and Steven Smith while also notched Matthew Wade’s wicket. Moreover, he was adjudged as the Man of the Match.
“It’s the match referee call as well. What he thinks about it, that’s more important. I know Justin Langer would be unhappy because Ravindra Jadeja was batting, and he had a hamstring niggle as well.
“And getting someone like Yuzvendra Chahal who is probably a very, very good T20 bowler. He would expect it to make things worst for Australia and it did. Because the kind of impact he had in the 2nd innings, was huge from India’s point of view,” Gautam Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo.
If there is actually a concussion, so it is fair on India to use that: Gautam Gambhir.
However, Gautam Gambhir didn’t find any fault in the concussion substitute. He stated that if Jadeja is concussed, why India should not bring his substitute in the form of Chahal.
“I understand that Australia must be frustrated, but it could be a delayed concussion as well. If there is a concussion, and there is a concussion rule, why not use it. India used it to the best of their advantage bringing in a wrist spinner. We kept talking about India may miss a wrist spinner and they did not miss the wrist spinner. He had a huge impact on this game. If there is actually concussion, so it is fair on India to use that,” Gautam Gambhir maintained.
Earlier, Jadeja smashed 44 runs off 23 balls while batting. He got the better of Josh Hazelwood as he struck him for three fours and one six in the penultimate over. After being hit by the ball in the helmet, he had also struck a couple of boundaries to take India’s total to 160