NEW DELHI: Former England captain Alastair Cook questioned the referee’s choice to allow Harshit Rana to replace Shivam Dube as a concussion substitute during the fourth Twenty20 International between India and England.
According to ICC Guidelines, ‘The ICC match referee should ordinarily approve a concussion replacement request, if the player is a like-for-like player.’
Just as England’s middle and lower order appeared to be gathering steam in their chase of 182, Rana’s arrival turned the tide of the match by taking three wickets for 33 runs.
“It had such a big impact on the game. Replacing a big-hitting batting all-rounder, who has bowled one over in the [2024] IPL, with a bowler who can’t bat and bowls heavy seam, makes no sense to me whatsoever.
“England still really should have won the game. They probably would have rather faced a pace bowler than a spinner, to be honest, but I still don’t understand it.
“India have Washington Sundar on the bench, who Dube replaced. but instead they bring in a heavy bowler, who bowls 140-odd [kmph]. It seems madness that you can do it,” Cook told TNT Sports.