Ravindra Jadeja “felt dizzy” after the completion of the Indian innings which resulted in Yuzvendra Chahal showing everyone how to be ready for opportunities that can come at any hour, India batsman Sanju Samson said on Friday.
Chahal, who was not in original XI, came in as concussion substitute for Jadeja and grabbed 3 for 25 in a match-winning performance in the first T20 International against Australia.
“He got hit on the helmet in the last over (off Mitchell Starc) and when he came back to the dressing room, he was asked by the physio (Nitin Patel) how he felt. He (Jadeja) said that he was feeling a little dizzy,” Samson told mediapersons during the post-match virtual media conference.
“He is under observation as per team doctor’s (Dr Abhijit Salvi) advice.”
Samson, however, couldn’t provide any update on how Jadeja’s hamstring is after he suffered a niggle and needed heavy strapping during the 19th over bowled by Josh Hazlewood.
“I don’t know how Jaddu bhai is feeling as the physio is taking care of that.”
Samson quite rightly didn’t want to comment on whether Jadeja is out of the T20 series even though concussion protocols demand a week’s rest which could mean that he would no longer be available in the next two games.
However, he was all praise for Chahal, who till the break didn’t know that he was going to play such a big role in India’s win.
“That is the standard that has been set by this team. The quality of players is so high that anytime you ask, they are ready. Chahal grabbed his chance and it was a great lesson for everyone that they need to be ready all the time.”
He has played a few T20s for India but without much success. However, a matured Samson believes that he is no longer under any kind of pressure.
“A few years back I would have said yes (pressure factor) to that question. But now I have played a few matches for India and have been around good people, who have helped keep a positive mindset.
“The idea is to keep it simple and focus is to win every game for India,” Samson said.
Kohli praises Jadeja, Chahal
India captain Virat Kohli was quite pleased that the concussion substitute rule worked out well for his side even though there were no plans to play Chahal.
While Jadeja smashed an unbeaten 44 off 23 balls to propel India to 161 for 7, his head injury allowed India to unleash Chahal on an Australian side caught completely off-guard.
“There were no plans of having Yuzi (Chahal) in the game. Jaddu (Jadeja) got a knock on the side of the head and was a bit dizzy and still is,” Kohli said in the post-match presentation.
“Concussion replacements are a strange thing, today it worked for us maybe another time he wouldn’t have found a like-for-like,” he added.
Kohli was full of praise for all his players but singled out Jadeja and Chahal for their efforts.
“He (Chahal) came in and bowled really well. The pitch offered him enough. Yuzi showed character to squeeze the opponents. I thought they had a great start. They were cruising. The batters offered us a few wickets. That is T20 cricket for you,” he said.
“In Australia, you need to play hard and show intensity till the end. He (Jadeja) batted beautifully in the last game. Natarajan looks like he can improve a lot. (Deepak) Chahar bowled well as well. Chahal got us back in the game. Hardik’s catch was a game-changer as well.”
Finch plays down substitute discussion
Earlier, just before the start of Australia’s chase, home team head coach Justin Langer was seen having an animated conversation with match referee David Boon on the sidelines even though it was not known whether it had anything to do with the decision to allow Chahal as a concussion substitute.
But Australia skipper Aaron Finch preferred to play it down when asked about the concussion substitute at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Their doctor had ruled Jadeja out with concussion and you can’t be challenging a medical expert’s opinion in that regard,” he said.
“We probably leaked a few too many runs at the end and then in the middle phase struggled to get boundaries.”
Finch informed that he suffered an injury during the match and the extent of the damage would only be known after scans.
“Bit of a hip or glute, we’ll wait and see. It progressively got worse throughout the game,” he said.
Chahal learns from mistakes
Man-of-the-moment Chahal said having not made the original playing eleven, there was no pressure on him when he came on as a concussion substitute.
“There was no pressure for me when we were batting and then suddenly I got to know I was going to play. I have played so many games so I was mentally fit,” he said.
Chahal said after a below-par outing in the ODI series, he picked up some tricks from rival leg-spinner Adam Zampa on how to bowl effectively on Australian wickets.
“I learnt from my ODI mistake. In ODIs, I flighted the ball a lot but here I just saw the way Zampa bowled, I tried to do the same as well.
“It was a little harder to score in the first innings. 150-160 is a good score on this wicket. I bowled according to my plans,” he said.
