AUS vs IND 1st T20: What Experts said as India wins series opener amid concussion substitute row

It was a game that was marred by the controversy around the concussion substitute and yet India, the team struggling a bit in their innings before the Jadeja storm, came back strong after the powerplay in the Australian innings to hand the hosts an 11-run defeat at Manuka Oval. If Ravindra Jadeja was the difference with the bat, his concussion substitute Yuzvendra Chahal turned out to be that with the ball. 

However, the work of T Natarajan with the ball, especially him taking the all-important wicket of Glenn Maxwell, and Sanju Samson’s brilliant catch to dismiss a potential and proven game-changer Steve Smith were as consequential as Jadeja’s or Chahal’s performance. 

Captains' Viewpoints

It was obvious that concussion was going to be the burning issue and the Indian skipper was seen addressing that as his first question in the post-match presentation. Virat Kohli, while explaining the substitution said, “Jaddu got a knock on the side of the head and was a bit dizzy and still is.”

Saying that playing Chahal was never in the plans, Kohli did attribute to him the credit for India’s comeback in the second innings. “Concussion replacements are a strange thing, today it worked for us maybe another time he wouldn't have found a like-for-like. He came in and bowled really well. The pitch offered him enough,” Kohli said. 

The Indian team showed character to fight back and the skipper too acknowledged it. However, he was not shy of letting it be known that at some places they were lucky as well. 

“The batters offered us a few wickets. That is T20 cricket for you. In Australia, you need to play hard and show intensity till the end,” the 32-year-old concluded. 

Ending up on the losing side for two games in a row, Aaron Finch revealed that he too got some niggle but also said that it would be resolved before the next game. 

“It got progressively worse as the game went on,” Finch said about his hip injury. 

Speaking about the concussion substitute, Finch added, “Their doctor had ruled Jadeja out due to a concussion. You can't be challenging a medical expert's opinion.” 

Talking about the reasons for the loss, Finch commented, “We probably leaked too many runs at the death. Then while chasing, we didn't hit too many boundaries in the six-over period.”

Expert Opinion

The concussion substitute became so large an issue that it was difficult to get other things into focus. But most of the experts, even while talking about the controversial substitute call, praised the likes of Jadeja, Natarajan, and Chahal.  

D'Arcy Short stayed at the wicket for the longest time and yet he was not able to see the team through, exposing his weakness at playing spin. Freddie Wilde, an English cricket analyst pointed it out, saying that the Australian team would have to look at other options who are good in sub-continental conditions for the Kangaroos' World Cup campaign. 

Boria Majumdar, the Indian sports analyst and cricket expert, was full of praise for Indian pacer Natarajan and the way he has evolved over time to become a force in the Indian lineup. He even went on to say that Natarajan would be a crucial part of India's 2021 T20 World Cup campaign. 

Sambit Bal, editor of a well-known cricket website, called for a change in the concussion substitute rule, but at the same time termed India correct in its use of the law as concussion cases are reported late as well. 

Cricketer turned pundit of the game, Aakash Chopra saw the funny side of the concussion episode, saying that India is having the best of both worlds. 

As with our tradition, no experts opinion piece is complete without a 'pun'-tastic one from Gaurav Kalra, leading cricket journalist. Only this time, his tweet was a rather straight forward 'substitute' used in place of his hilarious one-liners. 

The bandwagon of cricket would now move back to Sydney for the second as well as the 3rd and final T20I of the series, where Australia would look to find their lost touch and take the series to the third T20I.

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