The concussion case

Sri Lanka executed the concussion substitute protocol on the third day of the first Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as they brought in Kasun Rajitha to replace Vishwa Fernando, who was hit in the head on the second day.

Vishwa, who was hit in the head by a delivery from Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam during the second session of the second day, initially did not appear concussed as he batted later on, and had also bowled during the Bangladesh first innings in both the second and third day. He bowled eight overs in total, stayed wicketless and gave away 42 runs.

But then, Sri Lanka executed the option and brought in Rajitha, who went on to dismiss Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque and Najmul Hossain Shanto.

Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood said that they were just trying to protect Fernando, and had no other intentions behind bringing Rajitha on as the concussion substitute.

“The player’s welfare is of the utmost priority for us. The fact is that he did get hit on the head yesterday. As the day went on, he started to show more and more symptoms. So first and foremost, we had to make sure he was okay. And that is why he had to leave the game.

“The fact that Kasun came in and made an instant impact, is because Kasun bowled very well. So, no, we haven’t taken an advantage of the situation. What happened was that we tried to look after our player,” Silverwood said.

The concussion substitute rule was introduced to cricket in 2019 to protect players after getting hit in the head. The rule includes that the substitute must be a like-for-like one, and as Rajitha and Fernando both are pacers, it was according to the laws.