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Tom Kohler-Cadmore, the Rajasthan Royals opener, who made his IPL debut against the Punjab Kings on Wednesday, May 16, was spotted wearing a device on his neck, called the Q-Collar, which generated a lot of curiosity among the fans. Notably, this safety equipment is known to mitigate the risk of brain injury, and the players from various sports use it.
Q-Collar, developed by Q30 Innovations, is the first and only device of its kind, cleared by the FDA in February of 2021. As per the website of Q30 Innovations, a Q-Collar applies light pressure to the sides of the neck, increasing “blood volume in the brain’s venous structures, reducing the harmful internal movement that causes brain injury.”
In 2023, while playing in the Hundred in England, Tom Kohler-Cadmore wore the Q-Collar, the noninvasive solution to brain protection, for the first time in his career. But, now that he has used this safety equipment in his first IPL match for Rajasthan Royals, the Q-Collar is gathering headlines in the Indian cricketing landscape.
Notably, the IPL debut for Tom Kohler-Cadmore at the top of the order didn’t quite go to plan against Punjab Kings at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The right-handed batter struggled to find his touch right throughout the powerplay stage, scoring just 18 runs in 23 balls despite hitting a couple of fours and a maximum.
Except for Riyan Parag and Ravichandran Ashwin to an extent, the rest of the Rajasthan Royals batters found it tough to hit boundaries against the Punjab Kings bowlers, who were exceptional with the ball. In their pursuit of a 145-run target, PBKS were in a difficult spot with their score reading 48/4 after eight overs, but the captain Sam Curran played an exceptional innings of 63 off 41, to take them over the line with five wickets in hand and seven balls remaining in the innings.
