BCCI official shares exact turn of events that led to Jadeja substitution

Speaking about Ravindra Jadeja’s concussion, a senior team official has shared that the Indian team was made aware of the situation after Sanju Samson noticed it and after that they acted swiftly.

Ravindra Jadeja’s substitution in the first T20I in Canberra brought forward a lot of doubt about the Indian team’s intent and Justin Langer was visibly livid in his discussion with David Boon. Even Moises Henriques was apprehensive if a pure bowler like Yuzvendra Chahal was indeed a right like-for-like replacement for an all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who had already hit a match-defining innings for the side.

Also Read: The Grey Area Surrounding The Concussion Sub Rules Needs Attention

But clearing the air, a senior team official clarified that when the team management was aware of the blow to the head, there was only one ball left in the innings.

It was Sanju Samson who first spotted the blow and then he informed Mayank Agarwal who was sitting next to him. Agarwal duly brought that to the Indian team’s notice after which the medical team acted on it swiftly.

“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 official 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’s hamstring issue took backseat : BCCI official

In the previous over bowled by Josh Hazlewood, Jadeja had already suffered a hamstring issue which Australia were aware of, thus many fans thought it was a tactical move to replace him with Chahal.

But the Indian team official stated that they didn’t even care about the hamstring issue with a trauma injury being more important.

“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 source explained.

“It’s quite ridiculous that someone would think we would use one of our batsmen getting hit on the head as a tactic for anything,” he added.