Mumbai Indians were on Tuesday forced to bring in pacer Ashwani Kumar as a concussion substitute for Corbin Bosch after the South African all-rounder was struck on his helmet during the final over of the first innings in Match 56 of Indian Premier League at the Wankhede Stadium. It made Ashwani the 13th player to be used by MI in their playing XI. Before Ashwani, Karn Sharma came in as the impact substitute for Rohit Sharma.
Bosch, who made 27 off 22 balls laced with one four and two sixes, was struck on his helmet as he attempted a swipe at a sharp bumper on the off by Prasidh Krishna. He underwent treatment from the physio in the middle before getting run out off the next ball.
In the crucial match against the Gujarat Titans, the Mumbai Indians suffered a collapse, losing four wickets for 26 runs after Will Jacks (53) and Suryakumar Yadav (35) had added 71 runs for the third wicket. Once Surya was dismissed, followed by Jacks, Mumbai slumped to 123/7 in the 17th over when Naman Dhir got out for seven.
With the five-time IPL champions facing the threat of failing to reach 150, Bosch caught fire in the 20th over when he hammered back-to-back sixes off Prasidh Krishna.
But on the third ball, Bosch was struck bang on his helmet and showed signs of concussion during the mid-innings break. Mumbai Indians decided to follow the concussion protocols and brought Ashwani Kumar as a like-for-like replacement.