Pakistan wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed retired hurt in the second Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. The visiting Pakistan side has been dominant in the fixture so far as they managed to bundle out Sri Lanka at 166 in the first innings. Then with the bat, the Pakistani batters had a top performance with Abdullah Shafique leading the way.
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But after Saud Shakeel’s wicket, Ahmed got into the middle but was hit on the head on the first ball of his innings in the 81st over. Physios rushed into the middle for a mandatory concussion check as Asitha Fernando hit Ahmed straight on his helmet as the batter attempted to duck. After being cleared by the physios, Ahmed only managed to bat for 22 balls, before walking back to the dressing room at the score of 14.
Check out the incident here:
With Sarfaraz Ahmed being hit on his head, International Cricket Council’s Concussion Replacement protocol comes into play. ICC states, if a player sustains a concussion as a result of a head or neck injury in a match, a replacement may be permitted. However, the injury must be been sustained during play and within the playing area. The concussion must also be formally diagnosed by the team.
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If these conditions are met, the medical representative or team manager is required to submit a Concussion Replacement request to the Match Referee. The requested Concussion Replacement should be a like-for-like substitute for the injured player. The Concussion Replacement Request must be submitted within 36 hours of the incident if it is to be permitted. Hence as per the protocol, Mohammed Rizwan replaced Sarfaraz Ahmed for the remainder of the Test match.