Skipper Aaron Finch makes no excuses after Chahal replaces Jadeja as concussion substitute

Australian skipper Aaron Finch had no excuses to make and instead took things in the right spirit after Yuzvendra Chahal was roped in as a concussion substitute for an injured Ravindra Jadeja during the second innings of the first T20I at the Manuka Oval, Canberra on Friday.

Jadeja, who had scored a quickfire unbeaten 23-ball 44 towards the backend of the Indian innings not only suffered a hamstring injury but was also hit on the helmet after he had missed a bouncer from Mitchell Starc in the final over of the innings. The southpaw was also seen limping in the final over.

'You can't be challenging a...': Aaron Finch

"Their doctor had ruled Jadeja out due to concussion. You can't be challenging a medical expert's opinion. We probably leaked too many runs at the death. Then while chasing, we didn't hit too many boundaries in the 6-over period", said the Australian limited-overs skipper during the post-match interview.

However, unlike Finch, the Australian head coach Justin Langer was not at all pleased with this decision and he was seen having a heated discussion with match referee David Boon before the start of the Australian run chase. 

The concussion substitute rule

In July 2019, the International Cricket Council (ICC) agreed to allow the use of concussion replacements in all international cricket matches from 1 August 2019, with substitute having to be a "like-for-like replacement" and approved by the Match Referee.

Concussion substitute Yuzi Chahal spins India to victory

The wrist-spinner had a memorable day as he finished his spell with figures of 3/25 from his overs. His scalps included the likes of the frontline batsmen-skipper Aaron Finch, Steve Smith, and Matthew Wade in the middle-order.  The Haryana cricketer was also adjudged the Man of the Match for his outstanding bowling performance.

READ: Gautam Gambhir Reckons That Ravindra Jadeja Can Be A Handy No.5 Batsman In Limited-overs

The Australian run chase goes horribly wrong

Chasing a challenging total of 162, the hosts got off to a flying start as Finch and D'Arcy Short added 56 runs for the opening stand before the former departed. The Aussies then lost wickets at regular intervals as Smith and Glenn Maxwell were dismissed early. Short (34) and all-rounder Moises Henriques (30) tried their level best to keep Australia in the hunt, but once they fell, the tail-enders could not offer much resistance as they were eventually restricted to 150/7 as Kohli & Co. registered a 11-run win to draw first blood in the three-match series.

READ: Yuzvendra Chahal's Inclusion As Jadeja's Concussion Substitute Evokes Mixed Reactions