‘Absolute madness’ – How ‘bizarre’ concussion sub controversy steered India to T20 series victory over England
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Published 31/01/2025 at 20:51 GMT
India controversially used a concussion substitute to their advantage in victory over England when batting all-rounder Shivam Dube was replaced by out-and-out bowler Harshit Rana. TNT Sports experts Sir Alastair Cook and Steven Finn thought the decision was "bizarre" which "absolutely helped" India. Jos Buttler also gave his opinion after the disappointing defeat and said that he did not agree.
Harshit Rana
Image credit: Getty Images
There was a questionable moment during England's defeat to India on Friday, as Shivam Dube and Harshit Rana were involved in a controversial concussion substitute.
Batting all-rounder Dube was replaced by Harshit Rana, an out-and-out bowler, which meant the change was not a like-for-like one.
The concussion replacement guidance says that "the ICC match referee should ordinarily approve a concussion replacement request if the replacement is a like-for-like player whose inclusion will not excessively advantage his team for the remainder of the match".
The move left ex-England duo Sir Alasdair Cook and Steven Finn baffled, as the former felt it was "madness".
"Replacing a spinner, a big-hitting batting all-rounder who bowled one over in the IPL, with a guy who can't bat and bowls heavy seam makes no sense to me whatsoever," Cook told TNT Sports.
"It seems absolute madness that you can do it. He should not be allowed to bowl."
He added: "He still had another spinner he didn’t bowl in Abhishek [Sharma] who has bowled I think four or five overs, useful overs, left-arm spin in this series already.
"So he had him up his sleeve, and then he could also have a bowler, if he wanted to, bowl 140-150 clicks.
"So absolutely he’s helped the Indian side."
Finn agreed with the decision, which he said would have left "a hole in the referee's door" under the old regime.
"It’s bizarre given Washington Sundar is there, who is an off-spinning, finger-spinning all-rounder," he said. "So two to pick from, it would be interesting to see what the reasons were why he wasn’t chosen.
"We’ve got a former coach in Andy Flower who I’ve seen march into match referees' rooms before. If he was there instead of the laid-back Brendon McCullum, I imagine it would be a different story. There’d be a hole in that match referee’s door."
Buttler: 'We disagree with the decision'
And even England captain Jos Buttler was left dumbfounded by the tactic from the hosts, who wrapped up the series with victory in Maharashtra.
"It’s not a like-for-like replacement, we don’t agree with that," he said in the post-match press conference.
"Either Shivam Dube has put on 25mph with the ball or Harshit [Rana] has really improved his batting.
"It’s part of the game, I still think we should have gone on to win the match, but we disagree with the decision."
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