India replaced Shivam Dube with Harshit Rana midway through the second innings after he was hit on his helmet in the last over of the Indian innings in the fourth T20I at the MCA Stadium, Pune.
The replacement sparked widespread reactions from experts, who claimed that Rana was not a like-for-like replacement for Dube. The pacer went on to play a critical role in India’s 15-run victory, claiming three wickets on his debut.
Amid the outrage, former cricketer Michael Vaughan has conceded that England would've followed India in making a similar concussion substitute if they were in a similar situation.
“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, as quoted by CricketNext.
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."
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."
In the post-match presser, England skipper Jos Buttler also criticized the move, saying that it was not a like-to-like replacement.
“It is not a like-for-like replacement. We don't agree with that. Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball or Harshit has really improved his batting. It's part of the game and we really should have gone on to win the match, but we disagree with the decision,” Buttler told reporters.
"There was no consultation [with us]. That's something I was thinking as I came out to bat - who is Harshit on for? They said he is a concussion replacement, which I obviously disagreed with. It is not a like-for-like replacement. They said that the match referee had made the decision. We had no say in it or any part of it. But we'll ask Javagal [Srinath] some questions just to get some clarity around it,” he added.
"Like I said, it was not the whole reason why we did not win the match. We had our chances to win the game which we could have still taken. But I'd like to have a bit more clarity on that," he further stated.
The fifth and final T20I of the series will be played in Mumbai on Sunday (February 2).
