West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell was stretchered off after he started feeling uncomfortable because of a blow suffered on the head while batting for the Quetta Gladiators in a PSL 2021 match against Islamabad United on Friday. The decision to replace the allrounder with Naseem did not seem to go down well with Islamabad United; their captain Shadab Khan could be seen talking to umpire Aleem Dar before the second innings began.
During the first over of the second innings, Russell was stretchered out from the dressing room to an ambulance. He had received the blow to the head in the 14th over of Gladiators' innings. He hit two sixes off Muhammad Musa in that over before he was slow on a pull shot to a bouncer from the pacer. After being struck, Russell was checked by a physio and allowed to continue batting, although he was out next ball, caught at third man.
The rules on concussion substitutes state that any concussed player can be replaced by someone outside the XI, as long as the match referee agrees that the incoming player is a like-for-like replacement. Although Russell is a pace-bowling allrounder and Naseem is a specialist fast bowler, the decision to allow Naseem as a replacement might have been based on Russell's inability to deliver four overs in Gladiators' bowling innings. Quetta, however, won the match easily. New Zealand opener Colin Munro plundered an unbeaten 90 off 36 balls as Islamabad United swept Quetta Gladiators by 10 wickets. Munro hit 12 fours and five sixes, and was well supported by Islamabad-born Australian batsman Usman Khawaja's unbeaten 41. The left-handers smashed the seam and spin of Quetta to reach 137-0 in just 10 overs. Quetta was all out for 133.
