‘Didn’t add up’: England fuming as Indian concussion sub call opens up ‘giant can of worms’

A controversial substitute has helped India claim a T20 series win over England, but the Poms are adamant he shouldn’t have been on the field.

Fast bowler Harshit Rana came in as a controversial concussion substitute for his T20 debut and returned figures of 3-33 to help India clinch the series against England.

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Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, a left-hand batsman, put on 87 for the sixth wicket to lift India from a precarious 79-5 to 181-9 after being invited to bat first in the fourth match in Pune.

Rana and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi then took three wickets each as India bowled out England for 166 to win by 15 runs for an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

“Three wickets in one over was too much,” India captain Suryakumar Yadav said on his team’s early wobble.

“But the positivity, and the way Dube and Pandya showed their experience in the middle was great.”

India extended their unbeaten T20 series record to 17 at home since 2019.

But Rana dominated TV discussion between commentators when he took the field for Dube, who was hit on the helmet by Jamie Overton in the penultimate ball of the Indian batting innings.

India's Harshit Rana celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Jamie Overton. Picture: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP

Rana made his T20 debut but his substitution, which was not like-for-like with Dube a batting all-rounder, did not amuse the visitors with cricketer-turned-commentator Kevin Pietersen slamming the move on air.

“If you ask anybody in the world whether Harshit Rana is a like-for-like replacement, I’m not sure anyone would say that they are,” Pietersen said in commentary.

“He gets an extra bit of pace. He is a tall, bustling fast bowler. I can tell you something now, that England dressing room will not be happy. Jos Buttler wasn’t happy when he got out because of the substitution. It’s not like for like.”

Former England captain Alastair Cook described the concussion substitute call as “absolute madness”.

“It makes no sense to me whatsoever…he should not be allowed to bowl there,” Cook said on TNT Sports.

It’s not really a like-for-like replacement if Harshit bowls….which he should.
Ramandeep was the ideal ‘concussion replacement’ for Dube. https://t.co/QQyTkLRGGT

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 31, 2025

England should have won that game regardless, but allowing Harshit Rana to be a like-for-like replacement for Shivam Dube has opened a giant can of worms for future concussion substitutes.

— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) January 31, 2025

More than a Concussion Sub, Harshit Rana qualified as an Impact player; and we all know impact players aren’t allowed in T20 internationals.
India won. But it all didn’t really add up honestly #INDvsENG

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) January 31, 2025

Especially when you can replace a batter with a bowler 😜 https://t.co/BVs3dfQKjN

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) January 31, 2025

England captain Jos Buttler post-match said it was “not a like-for-like replacement”.

“Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball or Harshit has really improved his batting,” Buttler told reporters. “It’s part of the game and we really should have gone on to win the match, but we disagree with 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. 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.”

India's Shivam Dube celebrates with his teammate Axar Patel after scoring a half-century. Picture: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP

India’s assistant coach Morne Morkel explained the process that led to Rana being subbed into the game.

“Shivam came off the field in the innings break with mild headache symptoms,” Morkel said.

“We took a name forward to the match referee in terms of a suitable substitution, and from there it is up to the match referee to make the decision.

“When the decision was made, Harshit was having dinner. So we had to get him ready as quickly as possible to go on the field and bowl.

“It goes to the powers above me – match referee makes the decision. We can only take the name forward and from there it is out of our hands.”

Despite the circumstances, Rana still declared it “a dream debut for me”.

“When Dube came back, after two overs I was informed I will be the concussion substitute,” he said.

“I have been preparing for a while, not just for this series. I have been waiting for this moment (his debut) to prove myself. When I got the chance, I did not think of the circumstances and just thought about delivering. I have experience of bowling at the death and relied on that.”

Harshit Rana showed great control and presence of mind to walk in and change a game. There are many T20 matches ahead for him.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 31, 2025

Opportunities can come from the most unexpected places. Harshit Rana, at the start of play, probably never imagined he’d play such a pivotal role in the game. Life. Cricket.

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 31, 2025

Rana was instrumental in sending Jos Buttler back when he caught the skipper at short third man off Bishnoi and later got his first T20 wicket for India in Liam Livingstone.

Rana also dismissed Jacob Bethel and played a key bowling role alongside spinners Bishnoi (3-28) and Varun Chakravarthy (2-28).

Phil Salt and Ben Duckett set up the chase in a quickfire opening stand of 62 in 36 balls but their departure raised India’s hopes.

Harry Brook smashed 51 off 26 balls to revive the chase but his dismissal off Chakravarthy, who took another wicket in the over, once again put India ahead.

The rest of the England batting wilted as spinners and Rana combined to pack them off in 19.4 overs.

Earlier England bowled first and speedster Saqib Mahmood, who was added in place of Mark Wood, made an instant impact when he had Sanju Samson caught for 12 with his first ball.

He struck again with the wicket of Tilak Varma to be on a hat-trick, although Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav managed to avoid it. Yadav, however, lasted only four balls before being dismissed by Mahmood for a duck.

Rinku Singh, who made 30, and Abhishek Sharma, with 29, both attempted to counter-attack with a flurry of boundaries but leg-spinner Adil Rashid broke through with Abhishek’s wicket.

Brydon Carse took down Rinku but Dube, who was dropped on zero by Buttler at slip and went on to be named man of the match, and Pandya took on the Indian attack.

“Disappointing, we did some good things,” said Buttler.

“I dropped a catch and Dube played a really good innings. We were in a fantastic position with the bat, then lost wickets together.”

Pandya smashed four fours and four sixes in his 30-ball blitz before being dismissed by Overton and Dube was run out on the final ball.

The final match is on Sunday in Mumbai.

— AFP

Originally published as ‘Didn’t add up’: England fuming as Indian concussion sub call opens up ‘giant can of worms’