Harshit Rana’s brilliant bowling performance took India to a great victory over England by 15 runs. With this win India now has an unbeatable lead by 3-1, with one match to spare.
Men In Blue won the opening match by 7 wickets in Kolkata and the 2nd t20 they again won by a close contest by 2 wickets. Then in the 3rd t20 the English team made a great comeback and won the match by 26 runs. In the 4th t20 it was a deciding one for both the team and the hosting team got the upper nod.
India scored 181/9 in their 20 overs with the help of Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya’s fifties. At one point the team lost 3 wickets in just 12 runs, but these two added 87 runs for the 6th wicket and took their team out of the danger.
Now during the chase, the English team got a blasting start, the opening start got 62 runs in the powerplay. The team looked in great touch and that target was looking quite achievable but then Dube departed from the field and Harshit Rana came according to the concussion rule.
Rana came and took 3 important wickets of Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton. Ravi Bishnoi also supported him well and also took 3 important wickets.
As per 1.2.7.3 of the ICC playing conditions for concussion substitution, “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 team for the remainder of the match.”
On the other hand, Rule 1.2.7.7 states: “The decision of the ICC Match Referee in relation to any Concussion Replacement Request shall be final and neither team shall have any right of appeal.”
But this replacement made English skipper Jos Buttler a little disappointed as he didn’t look happy in the dugout.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan also showed his disappointment through his social media handle ‘X’ and said, “How can an out & out bowler replace a batter who bowls part time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Especially when you can replace a batter with a bowler 😜 https://t.co/BVs3dfQKjN
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) January 31, 2025
Kevin Petersen after the match says, “His (Harshit Rana) performance was great. He gets his name in the hat to have a chance to play in the fifth T20I. He was brilliant. He assessed the batters quite well on a couple of occasions. He was not at fault. It’s not the decision that he makes.”
Akash Chopra through his social media handle ‘X’ said, “It’s not really a like-for-like replacement if Harshit bowls….which he should. Ramandeep was the ideal ‘concussion replacement’ for Dube.”
Former England captain Sir Alastir Cook in an angry mode said, “Replacing a big-hitting batting all-rounder, who has bowled one over in the IPL [in 2024], with a guy who can’t bat and bowls heavy seam makes no sense to me whatsoever. 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. It gave the captain another brilliant option.”
The last match will be played at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on February 2.