Ind vs Aus, 1st T20I: Chahal replaces Jadeja as concussion substitute
Dec 04, 2020
Canberra [Australia], December 4 : Spinner Yuzvendra Chahal took the field in the second innings of the opening T20I against Australia as a concussion substitute after India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was hit on the helmet in the last over of the India innings.
Jadeja, who played a spectacular knock to power India to a defendable 161/7, was hit on the helmet in the final over of the innings and the BCCI medical team decided to assess the player before allowing him to get on with proceedings.
"Ravindra Jadeja was hit on the helmet in the final over of the first innings of the first T20I," BCCI tweeted. "Yuzvendra Chahal will take the field in the 2nd innings as a concussion substitute. Jadeja is currently being assessed by the BCCI Medical Team," it added
Jadeja played the role of a finisher to the tee as he hit 33 off the 34 runs that came in the last two overs. The southpaw tore into the Australian bowling in the last two overs and anything in the arc went into the stands as he finished with a strike-rate of 191.30.
The 19th over saw Jadeja smash 23 runs that included three boundaries and a six. Having lost the way in the middle overs thanks to some consistent bowling from the hosts, it required Jadeja to show the way as he sent the Australian bowlers on a leather hunt.
Earlier, after electing to bowl first, Australia got immediate reward as Mitchell Starc sent Shikhar Dhawan (1) packing in the third over. The bad start went worse when a few overs later, Mitchell Swepson got the prized wicket of skipper Virat Kohli (9).
Sanju Samson then joined opening batsman KL Rahul and the duo started rebuilding the innings after India finished the powerplay overs on 42 with 8 wickets in the bag. At the halfway mark, India's score read 75/2 and just when things started to look good, Samson hit one straight to the cover as Moises Henriques picked his first wicket of the day.
The wicket of Samson triggered a middle-order collapse as India lost Manish Pandey and Rahul in quick succession as the Men in Blue slipped from 86/2 to 92/5. Jadeja though kept his cool and ensured that the visitors ended the innings on a high.
