Ranji Trophy: Controversy erupts in game between Gujarat and Kerala over concussion substitute rule

There was massive controversy during the Ranji Trophy match between Kerala and Gujarat on Thursday. Kerala players were far from pleased when Hemang Patel walked into bat. The biggest point of contention was that Hemang was brought in as a concussion substitute for Ravi Bishnoi. 

The Indian leg-spinner was hit on his face while fielding and was taken off the field. Veteran cricketer Jalaj Saxena was seen having a chat with the umpire after Gujarat sent in Hemang Patel as the concussion sub. The point that Kerala players were making was that Hemang is a seamer while Ravi Bishnoi is a spin bowler, and that it was not a like-for-like substitution. 

A similar incident had occurred during the India vs England T20I series. Shivam Dube was replaced by Harshit Rana as the concussion sub. This didn’t please the English team management and also many former Indian players questioned the move. Gautam Gambhir in particular was called out for the move, which many felt wasn’t within the spirit of the game. 

Gujarat on the cusp of securing first innings lead; Vidarbha need seven wickets for win 

Meanwhile, day four ended with Gujarat on 429 for the loss of seven wickets as the hosts trail Kerala by 28 runs. Veteran opener Priyank Panchal was the best with his knock of 148, which came off 237 balls with 18 fours and a six. Hemang Patel, who came in for Bishnoi, scored 27 off 41 balls. 

Former KKR batter Aarya Desai hit 73 off 118 balls to give the home team a good start. When stumps was called, Jaymeet Patel was batting on 74 with Siddharth Desai on 24. Jaymeet had faced 161 balls and hit just two fours, with Desai having faced 134 balls. Gujarat just needs 28 runs to secure a key first innings lead as the game heads into the final day. 

In Nagpur, defending champions Mumbai are in trouble at 83/3 and need 323 runs more to reach the finals. Vidarbha, who had finished as the runners-up last season, held all the aces with the bat and later with the ball. Having acquired a lead of 113 runs, the hosts were all out for 292. Yash Rathod led the batting charts with his knock of 151 while skipper Akshay Wadkar scored 52. 
Harsh Dubey struck twice towards the end of the day with the wickets of Ayush Mhatre for 18 and Siddhesh Lad for two. Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane was out after scoring 12 runs when he was sent back to the hut by Parth Rekhade. At the close of play, Shivam Dube was batting on 12 with wicketkeeper Akash Anand on 27.