Concussion sub stirs controversy in DPL

The Dhaka Premier League (DPL) encounter between Shinepukur Cricket Club and Legends of Rupganj at BKSP's ground-3 yesterday flared up following a concussion-substitute controversy, serving as another reminder about the state of the country's premier one-day competition. 

The incident happened during the 43rd over of the first innings when Shinepukur batter Robiul Haque ran himself out and, in the process, got injured. The physio came to the ground to accompany the batter out of the field, and it was learned that Robiul had been taken to hospital in an ambulance.

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Dhaka send concussion sub outside of players’ list, stir fresh controversy in BPL

However, before the start of the innings, Rupganj players and officials were surprised upon seeing Mukidul Islam Mugdho replacing Robiul as the concussion sub.

While it was a like-for-like replacement, the nature of the injury caused a raging debate between umpires and club officials, leading to the game being halted for around 30 minutes. Rupganj alleged that Robiul had left with a hamstring injury.

The match eventually continued through former Rupganj captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza intervening, after which Shinepukur won by 67 runs to rise to second spot in the standings.

A Rupganj official told The Daily Star, "If a player suffers injury around the shoulder area, a concussion sub could be used. The situation demands as such but the player in question, batting during the 43.3 over mark, was run out and we saw in video footage that he dove while his shoulder hit the ground.

"There were no signs of head hitting ground. When you get hit in the head, you won't be holding your waist in pain. He got up and when walking [back], he cramped. It was not like he had a head injury," he continued.

"The physio was with him and he did not rub his shoulder or head because of a head injury. When they felt that this player can't bowl, they made a drama and said 'the player is facing difficulty seeing properly and we have to use an alternate player'. We protested when we saw Mughdo in the field as the sub. We are not sure if we will complain.

"Their physio gave the report but we have not seen it yet. Who will we complain to? The umpires would say it's the match-referee's jurisdiction, and the match-referee told us that there was an injury and the sub could be allowed."

When The Daily Star reached out to the match-referee Syed Asif Hossain for a statement, he was too busy to comment about the decision at the time of filing this report.

Earlier, Irfan Shukkur's 88-ball 106 saw Shinepukur post 256 for nine before pacer Nahid Rana picked up three wickets for 11 in eight overs while Mughdo bagged one, conceding the same number of runs in eight overs, as Rupganj reached 189 for nine.

Meanwhile, in Mirpur, leaders Abahani showed pace supremacy as Shoriful Islam bagged four for 35 while Taskin Ahmed and Tanzim Sakib scalped two and one wicket, respectively, to skittle Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi out for 88. Mohammad Naim's 53 and Anamul Haque Bijoy's 37 saw Abahani finish the chase in just 10.2 overs to win by 10 wickets.

Elsewhere, Prime Bank won by a big margin of 141 runs against Gazi Tyres in Fatullah after Mushfiqur Rahim's 71 saw them post 269 for nine. Hasan Mahmud and Mahedi Hasan bagged three and four wickets, respectively, as Gazi were bowled out for 128.