Aussies left frustrated as 'dizzy' Jadeja is subbed out

India captain Virat Kohli said Ravindra Jadeja was feeling dizzy after he was subbed out of the first Dettol T20 International against Australia in what proved a decisive moment on Friday evening in Canberra.

Jadeja was struck in the helmet off an outside edge from a ball bowled by fast bowler Mitchell Starc in the 20th over, but did not receive medical attention for the head knock and batted out the innings to post an unbeaten 44 from 23 deliveries.

However, the left-arm spinner was subbed out at the innings break to be assessed by the Indian medical team and was later ruled out of the rest of the series due to the head knock.

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal then replaced Jadeja in the visitors' XI as a concussion substitute and remarkably went on to be named player of the match after taking three crucial wickets.

Concussion substitutes were introduced to international cricket last year as part of the game's push to improve player welfare in regards to head injuries.

The new regulation allows for a concussed player to be replaced in the side by a 'like for like' replacement, with the match referee given the power to rule on the appropriateness of the substitute.

Chahal and Jadeja are similar players in that they are both spin bowlers although Jadeja, who also suffered a hamstring injury while batting and had been in doubt to bowl, is a superior batsman.

As the second innings was about to commence, ICC Match Referee David Boon, Australia coach Justin Langer - Boon's former Test teammate - and captain Aaron Finch were seen having a heated conversation in the player race.

Image Id: F3109ABBD60445589DAF70208E895714 Image Caption: Langer was visibly frustrated in conversation with Boon, the match referee // Getty

Langer left the conversation visibly annoyed, while Finch appeared to be smiling in disbelief.

"He was letting us know that the doctor had ruled Jadeja out with concussion so there's not much you can say to that," Finch told Fox Cricket after the match.

"You're not challenging a medical expert in that regard, are you?" 

After the match, Australia allrounder Moises Henriques said that player safety must come first, but questioned whether Chahal was the right player to replace Jadeja.

"I think the only real issue is you've got to ask yourself was it a like-for-like replacement? Is he (Jadeja) an out-and-out spinner?" Henriques told cricket.com.au.

"That's something they may need to look into, but those things are going to happen.

Henriques later added: "There's no doubt he got a knock on the head from my point of view.

"Whether it was a like-for-like replacement – that's the question we'd like to see.

"One (Jadeja) is an allrounder and a gun fielder, and the other is an out-and-out bowler who bats 11."

India went into the match with only five fit bowling options, with allrounder Hardik Pandya still managing a back injury despite bowling in the second ODI in Sydney.

Jadeja's cameo with the bat lifted India to 7-161 having been sent into bat by Finch, who then top-scored with 35 in his side's unsuccessful run chase.

Australia finished 11 runs short on 7-150 with Chahal's 3-25 proving critical.

"There were no plans of him being in the game," Kohli said of Chahal.

"(Jadeja) got a knock in the side of the head and was a bit dizzy – and still is.

"Concussion replacements, they're strange things. Today it worked for us but maybe another time we might not have found a like for like (replacement). Who knows?

"He came in and bowled really well, he had no pressure because he was just stepping in and had to bowl. He hit the right spots … all in all I thought we showed character to fight back in the game."

Dettol T20 INTL Series v India 2020

Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey , Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, D'Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan

First T20: December 4, Manuka Oval, 7.10pm AEDT

Second T20: December 6, SCG, 7.10pm AEDT

Third T20: December 8, SCG, 7.10pm AEDT