Two concussion subs were used in the same day’s play for the first time in the sport. It’s good to see the new policy in use, but there is plenty more that needs doing to ensure player safety, including change in some attitudes, writes Manoj Narayan.
The pink-ball Test between India and Bangladesh at Eden Gardens was one of several firsts – including the use of not one, but two concussion substitutes in a day.
On Friday, November 22, the first day of the Test, Mohammed Shami was in the thick of the action, part of India’s formidable pace attack in sending down a blistering spell of short-pitched fast bowling that most lower-order batsmen are just not programmed to face. With Bangladesh reduced to 60-6, Liton Das and Nayeem Hasan braved a scary spell from India’s gun bowler either side of the dinner break.
In the 21st over, Shami first rammed one into Liton’s helmet. The batsman attempted a pull, but was too late, and the ball crashed into his helmet at the forehead. The physio rushed on, as per ICC’s concussion protocols, but after some on-the-spot Tests, Liton seemed to suggest to the physio that he was alright to play on – as most players tend to do – and so he did.
Given the potential for delayed onset – Cricket Australia statistics put this number at 30 per cent – the player might well pass the initial tests, and feel its effects later. Perhaps it is also worth considering a mandatory sit-out period of a few overs for players hit on the head. This, admittedly, has its limitations – what happens if it’s the last man who needs to sit out for a bit? Would play be suspended?
But, these are changes worth pursuing, making safety of the players the first priority. And perhaps not just for batsmen: head injury is a concern for bowlers and umpires in the line of fire from a batsman’s shot, and for spectators in this age of manic six-hitting.
Concussion substitutes in Test cricket
Marnus Labuschagne for Steve Smith, Lord’s
Jermaine Blackwood for Darren Bravo, Kingston
Theunis de Bruyn for Dean Elgar, Ranchi
Mehidy Hasan for Liton Das, Kolkata
Taijul Islam for Nayeem Hasan, Kolkata#INDvBAN #PinkBallTest— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) November 22, 2019
Also needing improvement are attitudes surrounding potential concussion. On air during the pink ball Test, Indian commentators, including former players Sunil Gavaskar and Murali Kartik, were cynical, to say the least, in suggesting the players could misuse the substitutions to gain an advantage.
First for all, how that is the case in this instance is unclear; Mehidy Hassan, primarily a bowler, cannot bowl in the match since he replaced a wicketkeeper-batsman in Liton. Saif Hassan would have been the ideal like-for-like replacement for Liton, but he split his webbing two days before the match, and Bangladesh didn’t fly in a replacement.
More pertinently, the players weren’t misusing anything – they carried on playing after being hit – and for all their wealth of experience, the commentators really must understand this is one area where cynicism, or nostalgia, has no place. Safety first, always.
