Harshit Rana, on T20I debut, picked three wickets as concussion substitute.
The fourth T20I between India and England was played at the MCA Stadium in Pune on January 31, 2025. The series was 2-1 in India’s favor as England had won the last match in Rajkot to stay alive in the 5-T20I series.
Jos Buttler finally won the toss in Pune and chose to bowl first. England brought in Jacob Bethell and Saqib Mahmood in the XI. India, meanwhile, brought in Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, and Rinku Singh in the playing XI.
Saqib Mahmood gave England a dream start, removing Sanju Samson (1), Tilak Varma (0), and Suryakumar Yadav (0) in the same over, leaving India 12/3 at one stage.
This became 79/5 as Abhishek Sharma got out for 29 runs, and after a short partnership, Rinku Singh was dismissed for 30 runs. But then Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube got together and not only stemmed the fall of wickets but also took India to a decent total.
Pandya scored 53 in 30 balls with 4 sixes and 4 fours, while Dube made 53 in 34 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes as India finished on 181/9 in 20 overs. Saqib Mahmood was the pick of England bowlers for 3/35 in 4 overs.
Harshit Rana was then brought in as Shivam Dube’s concussion substitute after two overs of England's innings, much to the debate of the commentators and fans alike.
This time England openers Phil Salt (23) and Ben Duckett (39) gave a quick start, adding 62 runs for the 1st wicket in 6 overs. But Ravi Bishnoi removed Ben Duckett and then Jos Buttler for 3 runs, while Axar Patel clean bowled Salt to add to England’s worries.
Harry Brook played a wonderful knock of 51 in 26 balls and seemingly was taking England towards the win. But then, concussion sub Harshit Rana sprung into action, dismissing Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell, while Varun Chakaravarthy dismissed Harry Brook once more.
Jamie Overton with 19 and Adil Rashid with 10* tried to take the game deep and hit some lusty blows, but the total was too much in the end as England was bowled out for 166 and India won the match by 16 runs. For India, Ravi Bishnoi and Harshit Rana, on T20I debut, picked three wickets each.
With this win, India took a lead of 3-1 in the series, with the final T20I to be played in Mumbai on Sunday, February 2.
The cricket fraternity, though praising India for their win on social media, discussed Harshit Rana's use as a concussion substitute as well.
Here are the posts: