Pacer Harshit Rana replaced all-rounder Shivam Dube as a concussion substitute during India’s fourth T20I against England on Friday. It has created a huge controversy as former cricketers and even England captain Jos Buttler questioned the move. As per the laws of ICC, concussion substitutes must be like-for-like replacements, which clearly was not in the case of Dube and Rana. While Dube is an all-rounder, Rana is a right-arm fast bowler. While talking about the replacement, England captain Jos Buttler questioned the move and said that he was not consulted about it.
“It is not a like-for-like replacement. We don’t agree with that,” Buttler said after the fourth T20I.
“Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball or Harshit’s really improved his batting. It’s part of the game and we really should have gone on to win the match, but we disagree with the decision.
“There was no consultation [with us]. That’s something I was thinking as I came out to bat – who is Harshit on for? They said he is a concussion replacement, which I obviously disagreed with. It is not a like-for-like replacement. They said that the match referee had made the decision. We had no say in it or any part of it. But we’ll ask Javagal [Srinath] some questions just to get some clarity around it.
“Like I said, it was not the whole reason why we did not win the match. We had our chances to win the game which we could have still taken. But I’d like to have a bit more clarity on that.”
Dube was concussed after he was struck on the helmet in the final over of India’s innings during the fourth T20I.
Dube, who scored 53, was hit on the helmet in the penultimate ball of the Indian innings by a Jamie Overton delivery. Following the mandatory concussion test, he was cleared to play. Howevery, the all-rounder was run out on the final delivery of the innings. He was replaced with Rana after that.
(With PTI Inputs)
