England captain Jos Buttler has questioned the decision to bring pacer Harshit Rana as a concussion substitute for batting all-rounder Shivam Dube in the fourth T20I against India on Friday.
Controversy erupted in the fourth game of the five-match T20I series when India brought Rana as a concussion sub for Dube, who copped a blow to his helmet on the second-last ball of the penultimate over of their inning.
After a check-up, the Indian physio allowed Dube to play the final ball and was run out after scoring 53 runs from 34 balls.
He, however, did not take to the field in England’s innings due to the concussion and Rana took the field in his place. Rana went on to take three key wickets, contributing to India’s victory.
England captain raised questions over the decision to allow India to bring the pacer as a concussion sub for a batting all-rounder.
“It is not a like-for-like replacement. We don’t agree with that,” Jos Buttler said after the match. “Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball or Harshit [Rana] has really improved his batting.”
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“It’s part of the game and we really should have gone on to win the match, but we disagree with the decision.”
As per the ICC’s playing conditions for men’s T20Is, “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/her team for the remainder of the match.”
“In assessing whether the nominated Concussion Replacement should be considered a like-for-like player, the ICC Match Referee should consider the likely role the concussed player would have played during the remainder of the match, and the normal role that would be performed by the nominated Concussion Replacement.”
Jos Buttler also lamented that the match officials did not consult with him before 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,” he added.
“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.”
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