Ranji Trophy: Gujarat concussion sub, at No. 5, riles up Kerala

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat's decision to send in Hemang Patel as a concussion substitute for leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi at No. 5 in their ongoing Ranji Trophy semifinal at the Narendra Modi Stadium has not gone down well with the visitors. Veteran off spinner Jalaj Saxena termed it 'unfair' for Kerala and said that Bishnoi's replacement, Patel, should have batted at No. 11 rather than at No. 5. Bishnoi had suffered concussion while fielding on the third day.Gujarat ended the fourth day at 429/7 in their first innings in reply to Kerala's 457, with Jaymeet Patel (74*) and Siddharth Desai (24*) holding fort. Saxena's marathon spell of 61-12-137-4 brought Kerala back into the game after Gujarat were well placed a t 222/1 at the start of play.Asked about the discussion he had with the on-field umpire when concussion substitute Hemang Patel walked in to bat at the fall of Urvil Patel's wicket at 292/4, Saxena told TOI, "I don't think it's fair. Ravi Bishnoi is a bowler and he generally bats at nine or ten for their side. As a concussion substitute, you are getting in a player who bats really well and he's being promoted to bat at five. That was unfair for us. And that's what I was telling the umpire that if you have taken a batsman in place of a bowler, make him play at No. 11 or where Bishnoi was going to play. He scored some crucial 30 runs. This was unfair."Hemang made 27 off 41 balls with two fours and a six, an innings which, in the final analysis, could prove crucial.When asked if the rules concerning concussion substitution needed to be looked at closely in domestic cricket, Saxena said: "I don't know. I'm not the one who makes these laws. But I felt it was unfair for my Kerala side. He came in at a crucial point. It was very visible that he is not a bowler. He is a batsman who can bowl."When asked if Kerala came to know about this change at that point or were intimated earlier about it, he said, "We thought that he won't be allowed to bat before 11. Then he batted at number five as a pure batsman."Brief scores: Gujarat 429 for 7 (Panchal 148, Jaymeet 74*, Saxena 4-137) vs Kerala 457 (M Azharuddeen 177*)