Harshit Rana (L) picked up three wickets. | (Credits: X)
Ex-England captain Sir Alastair Cook gave a strong reaction against the approval of out and out bowler as a concussion substitute replacement for a batting all-rounder during the 4th T20I against India. While Cook credited Harshit Rana for his performance, the former opener said the decision was absolute madness in the first place.
With Shivam Dube hit on the helmet during his explosive knock of 53, it was determined during the innings break that the all-rounder hadn’t been deemed fit to field. As a result, pace bowler Harshit Rana jumped in as a concussion replacement and made a decisive difference in the game, taking figures of 4-0-33-3 to fashion a 15-run win and a series victory for the hosts.
“Replacing a big-hitting batting all-rounder, who has bowled one over in the IPL [in 2024], with a guy who can’t bat and bowls heavy seam makes no sense to me whatsoever. It seems absolute madness that you are allowed to do it, but credit to the lad on debut, but he shouldn’t be allowed to play there. It gave the captain another brilliant option.”
“They said that the match referee had made the decision” – Jos Buttler
Buttler went on to reveal that no consultation had been made with the England team as he was surprised to see Rana on the field. The Englishman promised to get some clarity around the decision with match referee Javagal Srinath, adding, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
“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.”
The fifth and final T20I will take place in Mumbai on February 2, 2025.
