The ICC in 2019 introduced new rules regarding Concussion. According to the new rules a player who suffers concussion can be replaced by another player in the playing XI. But there are so many regulations surrounding this rule. The most significant of which is ‘Like to Like replacement’. This term indicates that if a batsman has suffered concussion then he can be replaced only by a batsman.
Now, suppose if Rohit Sharma suffers concussion and an all-rounder Hardik Pandya replaces him then the Match Referee has full discretion to restrict Hardik from bowling in that match. But still the rule is very unclear. In the 2020 India tour of Australia, during a T20 match Jadeja suffered concussion and was replaced by Yuzvendra Chahal and ultimately was named man of the match. A lot of clamor happened as many thought that Chahal was not a like to like replacement for Jadeja.
Also according to this rule, a physio needs to examine a player every time a ball is hit on his head. An examination process which consists of different questions is asked by physio and then he determines if a player has suffered concussion or not. This is done with the help of Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5 (SCAT 5).If a player has suffered concussion then a medical report of that player has to be submitted to the match referee by the physio. This process requires some time.
After the unfortunate death of Phil Hughes in 2014 due to a ball struck on his head , the ICC was compelled to introduce new norms for protecting the batsman. This was followed by introducing new kinds of helmets which had extra protection. Now this Concussion substitute rule is also one of the safety measures introduced by ICC.
In the 2019 Ashes during the 2nd test match Steven Smith was hit on head by Jofra Archer and suffered concussion. The team decided to replace him with Marnus Labushchagne. This was the first time when a concussion substitute was introduced by a team.
