Absolute madness: Harshit Rana concussion sub move in Pune puzzles Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook claimed that Harshit Rana coming in as a concussion substitute during the 4th T20I between India and England 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 made an instant impact on the game as he claimed the catch to dismiss Jos Buttler before picking up 3 wickets for 33 runs in his 4 overs. The decision to bring Harshit for 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.

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Speaking to TNT Sports, Cook stated that he was puzzled by the decision to see a big-hitting batting all-rounder being replaced by someone who doesn’t bat well and bowls heavy seam.

The former England skipper pointed out that India had the choice to bring Washington Sundar in and said Harshit shouldn’t have played the match.

“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.

‘Headline isn’t about concussion sub’

While Cook admitted that fielding Harshit may have been a wrong call, he was critical of England’s performance, claiming that the visitors should have won the game.

“It gave the captain another brilliant option. They also had Abhishek Sharma, another spinner, who didn’t bowl in this game. Harshit Rana has absolutely helped the India side.”

“We can rant about it all we like, it was the wrong call, but England should have won the game. The headline isn’t about the concussion sub,” said Cook.

England captain Jos Buttler was critical of the move made by India during his press conference after the match.

Published By:

Rishabh Beniwal

Published On:

Feb 1, 2025



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