England skipper Jos Buttler disagreed with India's decision to use Harshit Rana as a concussion substitute for half-centurion Shivam Dube, a move that ultimately helped the hosts seal the five-match T20I series with a 15-run win in the fourth game on Friday.
Dube, who scored 53 off 34 balls, was hit on the helmet by a Jamie Overton delivery in the 19.5th over, triggering the concussion protocol.
Although Dube faced the last ball of the innings, Rana walked out to field in his place when India came out to defend 182.
“We don't agree with the concussion substitute. It’s not a like-for-like replacement,” Buttler said at the post-match media conference.
Rana played a pivotal role, taking 3 wickets, including that of Liam Livingstone. Buttler raised questions about whether the concussion rule had been followed in its true spirit.
Buttler sarcastically commented on the situation: “I think either Shivam Dube put on 25 mph with the ball, or Harshit Rana has improved a lot with his batting.”
The concussion protocol allows for a like-for-like replacement, and Rana, a tearaway fast bowler, replaced Dube, a medium pacer, who is used as an Impact Player by CSK in the IPL.
For the record, Rana does have a Ranji Trophy century.
Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel explained that they simply submitted a name to match referee Javagal Srinath.
“We only gave a name to the match referee. After that, it was out of our hands. Harshit was having dinner, and he had to quickly get up and go out. I thought he did an excellent job,” Morkel said.
The like-for-like replacement rule for concussion substitutes has been a grey area that India has often used to their advantage. The last time India used this tactic was during the 2020-21 series against Australia.
When Ravindra Jadeja was replaced by Yuzvendra Chahal as a concussion substitute, the issue was more related to Jadeja's hamstring than a head injury.
Friday’s game saw India get the best of both worlds — Dube's batting and Rana's extreme pace.
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