Harshit Rana Not Like-For-Like Replacement For Shivam Dube: Jos Buttler

England skipper Jos Buttler said Harshit Rana was not a like-for-like replacement for Shivam Dube in the fourth T20I of the five-match series in Pune.

Pune: England captain Jos Buttler questioned India's move to bring in specialist pacer Harshit Rana to replace concussed batting all-rounder Shivam Dube after losing the 4th T20I in Pune, saying that it did not align with the definition of a like-for-like replacement. Came in as a concussion substitute, Harshit picked three wickets to propel India to a series-clinching 15-run victory against England.

India's decision to bring on Harshit as a concussion substitute for Dube has come under scrutiny. Apart from the England captain, English commentators Kevin Pietersen and Nick Knight, who were on air at the time, questioned about the substitution player. Dube, who smashed a crucial fifty to help India post an 182-run target, was struck twice on the helmet while scoring 53 off 34 balls and did not take the field during England's chase.

"It is not a like-for-like replacement. We don't agree with that," Buttler said in the post-match press conference. "Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25 mph with the ball or Harshit's 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."

Dube scored his fourth half-century after walking in at 57 for 4 and stitching an 87-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Hardik Pandya after India were reduced to 79/5. It was in the 19th over, Dube got hit on the helmet by a 141.5kph bouncer from Jamie Overton on the penultimate ball of the innings.

India had batting allrounder Ramandeep Singh on the bench, who might have been a more suitable like-for-like replacement for Dube. Notably, Ramandeep took the field as a substitute for Varun Chakravarthy for a brief period.

Furthermore, Buttler claimed that there was no consultation made with the England team before fielding Harshit as a concussion substitute and said that they would ask questions to match referee Javagal Srinath to get some clarity about it. However, the English skipper emphasised that it was not the only reason they lost the match.

"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" Buttler 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 said.

Harshit made his T20I debut for India during the fourth T20I in Pune, coming in as a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube. The decision sparked controversy online, as many questioned the replacement of an all-rounder with a specialist pacer, arguing it was not a like-for-like substitution.

However, this was not the first time India found themselves in a similar situation. In 2020, Yuzvendra Chahal replaced Ravindra Jadeja as a concussion substitute in a T20I against Australia and went on to be named Player of the Match after taking three wickets.