New Delhi, Feb 1 Former England captain Alastair Cook has questioned the match referee’s decision, during the 4th T20I between India and England, to allow Harshit Rana to replace Shivam Dube as a concussion substitute. According to ICC Guidelines, ‘The ICC match referee should ordinarily approve a concussion replacement request, if the player is a like-for-like player.’
Rana’s introduction proved to be a turning point, as he scalped three wickets for 33 runs, rattling England’s middle and lower order just when the visitors seemed to be building momentum in their chase of 182.
“It had such a big impact on the game. Replacing a big-hitting batting all-rounder, who has bowled one over in the [2024] IPL, with a bowler who can't bat and bowls heavy seam, makes no sense to me whatsoever.
“England still really should have won the game. They probably would have rather faced a pace bowler than a spinner, to be honest, but I still don't understand it.
"India have Washington Sundar on the bench, who Dube replaced. but instead they bring in a heavy bowler, who bowls 140-odd [kmph]. It seems madness that you can do it," Cook told TNT Sports.
Ravi Bishnoi (3 for 28) and debutant Harshit Rana (3 for 33) claimed three wickets each as India beat England by 15 runs. With the win, India seal the series 3-1 with the last T2OI scheduled in Mumbai. Earlier, Hardik Pandya (53) and Shivam Dube (53) produced a counter-attacking partnership to rescue India from a precarious position and push them to a competitive 181/9.
English captain Jos Buttler acknowledged that his side should have won the game regardless of the introduction of Rana but was still left baffled by the decision.
"We disagree with the decision. It's not a like-for-like replacement. Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25 mph with the ball, or Harshit has really improved his batting. They had a like-for-like replacement in Ramandeep Singh, so we are quite confused as to how Harshit Rana was able to come into the game. We'll ask Javagal [Srinath, the match referee] some questions.
"We had no consultation. As I came out to bat, I asked the umpire why Harshit was on the field and he said he's the concussion sub which I was quite confused by.
"Maybe at the toss next game, I'll say we're going to play 12 as well. I still think we should have gone on to win the match but we disagree with the decision," said Buttler in the post-match conference.
--IANS
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