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India being allowed to replace Shivam Dube with Harshit Rana as a concussions sub has been heavily criticised by current and former England cricketers.
Shivam Dube (left) and Harshit Rana (BCCI Photo)
It’s a decision that England captain Jos Buttler openly criticised with a sarcastic remark. During the fourth T20I in Pune, India were allowed to replace Shivam Dube with Harshit Rana as a concussion substitute polarising opinions. Buttler along with England legends including Alastair Cook and Michael Vaughan have questioned whether the substitute Rana was a like-for-like replacement as per the rules.
Dube is a batting allrounder who bowls medium pace while Rana is a right-arm pacer capable of bowling in the 90mphs.
Rana thus made his T20I debut under unique circumstances and went on to play a central role in India’s thrilling 15-run win that helped them bag the five-match series with a game to spare. He took 3/33 from four overs.
Vaughan disagrees with the match referee allowing India Rana to replace Dube who was hit by a bouncer from England pacer Jamie Overton off what was the penultimate delivery of the India innings. As per the concussion protocol, the India cricketer was assessed by the team physio before being cleared to face the final delivery.
However, Dube didn’t take the field and was replaced by Rana.
“I have to say, the substitute, how did they find Harshit Rana as a like-to-like for Shivam Dube? An out-and-out bowler to replace a batter that bowls some part-time stuff is beyond me,” Vaughan said.
He added, “England would have done the same by the way, if they had a chance to replace the player. But, you can’t tell me that Harshit is a like-to-like replacement for Shivam Dube.”
What Is The Official Concussion Sub Rule?
As per the ICC rule, “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.”
