Former Indian cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir has reacted to the latest concussion substitute controversy that erupted around the Indian cricket team during the first T20I of the three-match T20I series against Australia on Friday (December 4) in Canberra.
After Ravindra Jadeja was struck on the helmet on Friday, Yuzvendra Chahal replaced the all-rounder as a concussion substitute and later, the leg-spinner played the role of a match-winner for Team India, scalping 3 wickets to help the tourists win the game by 11-runs.
The incident has now become a hot topic of discussion and sparked a huge debate among the cricket fraternity and now Gambhir joined the long list, saying that India had the right to use the concussion substitute since there is a concussion rule in the game.
Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo: “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.”
He signed off by saying, “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.”
