Michael Vaughan said that he found it tough to comprehend that Harshit Rana was brought in as a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube in the fourth T20I between India and England. On Friday, January 31, at the MCA Stadium in Pune, Dube was hit on his helmet in the last over of the Indian innings, after which Rana was approved as a replacement for him.

Rana went on to play a key role as India claimed the T20I series 3-1 with a 15-run win. Rana accounted for the wickets of Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton to finish with figures of 4-0-33-3. Rana also gave away only six runs in the penultimate over when England needed 25 runs to win. Vaughan, however, admitted that England would have done the same had they had the same chance.

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“How did they found that Harshit Rana was a like-for-like replacement for Shivam Dube, and an out-and-out bowler to replace a batter who bowls part-time is beyond me. He gets three for 33, got key wickets at key times,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.

“England would have done the same, by the way, if they had the chance to replace a player for the same kind of player that India did in the end. But Harshit Rana can’t be a like-for-like replacement for Shivam Dube,” Vaughan added.

What does the concussion substiture rule says?

According to rule 1.2.7 of ICC’s Men’s T20I playing guidelines, “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.”

Earlier, former Indian batter Aakash Chopra said that Ramandeep Singh should have been a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube and not Harshit Rana.

“It’s not really a like-for-like replacement if Harshit bowls….which he should. Ramandeep was the ideal ‘concussion replacement’ for Dube,” wrote Chopra on X.

India will be looking to finish the series on a handsome note in the fifth and final T20I on Sunday, February 2 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.