A lot of drama unfolded during today’s game at the International T20 2025 series in the UAE. The game was between Gulf Giants and Desert Vipers, and the former was losing wickets at regular intervals after being put in to bat first. Their captain James Vince stood tall at one end as wickets tumbled all around him at the other end.
Towards the end of the 16th over, Saghir Khan was dismissed by Mohammad Amir and the Giants were reeling at 89/8. Realising there’s plenty of time left in the innings and no batters remaining, they decided to get Namibian all-rounder Gerhard Erasmus on as a super sub, as he was one of the registered options at the start of the game.
Gerhard Erasmus not allowed to bat as super-sub
For those who don’t know, the super-sub rule is very similar to the impact sub rule introduced by the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, as Erasmus padded up and was stepping across the boundary to enter the playing field, he was stopped by the match referees, and a long conversation followed between Erasmus, the umpire, and the head coach, Andy Flower.
The end result was that we saw Erasmus turn around and head back to the dugout, while Tymal Mills (the original scheduled number #10 batter) walked out to join his captain, Vince. Mills walked out to the pitch and then took some time to explain the situation to Vince as well, who now realised he had to continue battling it out on his own.
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Even the on-air commentators weren’t sure of what was happening. The broadcasters quickly got the fourth umpire on the live feed, Leslie Reifer. They spoke to him and asked him to explain what happened, as simply as possible. And Reifer mentioned that while Erasmus was a listed super-sub option, it wasn’t conveyed to the match officials in the right manner.
As per the rules, the HEAD COACH and only him / her has to mention to the officials in writing as to who they wish to nominate as the super-sub, and this wasn’t done by Andy Flower. Flower is super experienced and the slow motion replays show that he realised his mistake, and was seen apologising to Erasmus as well, for the mess-up.
For all of us viewers around the world, this was something new as we’ve barely ever seen someone being stopped from taking the field. However, there are rules in place and these rules weren’t followed, maybe intentionally or maybe through an oversight. A learning lesson for all though. For similar cricketing updates from around the world, remember to always stay tuned to ReadScoops.com.
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