The former England Cricketer Alastair Cook has claimed that Harshit Rana coming in as a concussion substitute during the 4th T20I on England tour of India 2025 made ‘no sense’ as the hosts sealed the series in Pune.
Harshit came in as a substitute for the injured Shivam Dube, who was hit on the helmet during the final over of the Indian innings.
Harshit Rana made an impressive display and claimed three wickets for 33 runs in his four overs.
The decision to bring Harshit for Shivam Dube has been widely debated as the ICC rules state that only like-for-like replacements can be fielded by teams when one of the players gets concussed on the field.
Cook stated that he was puzzled by the decision to see a big-hitting all-rounder being replaced by Harshit Rana who doesn’t bat well and bowls heavy seam.
“You’ve got to love cricket because it throws up so many stories. At half time you would never have thought that story would have been a concussion sub. He made such a big impact on the game.”
“Replacing a big-hitting batting all-rounder, who has bowled one over in the IPL, with a guy who can’t bat and bowls heavy seam makes no sense to me whatsoever.”
“England should have still won the game and would have probably preferred a seamer to a spinner but I don’t understand it. They had Washington Sundar who got replaced because they wanted more batting in the side.”
“It seems absolute madness that you are allowed to do it, but credit to the lad on debut, but he shouldn’t be allowed to play there,” said Cook.
Meanwhile England captain Jos Buttler also shown disappointed on Concussion substitute during the fourth T20I during his press conference after the match.
India secured a 3-1 win in the five match series and will be facing England on February 02 at Wankhede Stadium.
