India beat England by 15 runs in Pune to win the T-20 series with the fifth and final match still to be played in Mumbai. However, Harshit Rana, who came in as a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube, sparked a controversy after he was allowed to bowl. Harshit is a pacer and he replaced Shivam Dube who is a batting allrounder. Harshit ended up with figures of 3/33 in his 4 overs. His bowling was one of the reasons why India managed to win the match.
Former England player Michael Vaughan posted on X, “How can an out & out bowler replace a batter who bowls part time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,”
What does the concussion rule say?
Rule 1.2.7.3 of the ICC playing conditions for concussion substitution states: “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.” In addition, rule 1.2.7.7 states: “The decision of the ICC Match Referee in relation to any Concussion Replacement Request shall be final and neither team shall have any right of appeal.”
Meanwhile, batting first, India scored 181/9 thanks to splendid knocks by Hardik Pandya (53 from 30) and Shivam Dube (53 from 34). At one stage, India were 12/3 after Sanju Samson (1), Tilak Varma (0) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (0) got out cheaply. For England, Harry Brook was the top scorer with 51 runs from 26 balls.
After the match, Suryakumar said, “Top effort from everyone, and the great crowd from start till the end. [12 for 3] We didn't want to go back, boys know what brand of cricket we want to play. Three wickets in one over was too much. But the positivity, and the way Dube and Pandya showed their experience in the middle was great. This is what we have been talking about – expressing yourself and batting the same way as in the nets. The way they practice is incredible and they do it in the game. I'm happy, I think we're moving in the right direction. I always knew post-powerplay, [overs] 7-10 there was a time we could control the game. We picked up a few wickets, and then Harshit Rana came in as a third seamer and delivered for us, that was incredible.”
