The Suryakumar Yadav-led India continued their dominance in T20I bilateral series. India beat England by a massive margin of 150 runs to win the series 4-1. However, India's win in fourth T20I was marred by concussion susbtitute controversy. Former Indian and England cricketers do not feel Harshit Rana coming in for Shivam Dube was a like-for-like replacement. Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has joined the conversation too. Gavaskar lashed out at head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav and claimed that Dube "was not concussed".
“In the Pune game, Dube batted right till the end after having got hit on the helmet earlier, so clearly, he was not concussed. So, allowing a concussion substitute itself was not correct. Yes, there could have been a substitute in case he had strained a muscle while batting, but that would have been only for fielding and he could not have bowled,” Gavaskar wrote in his columb for The Telegraph.
Gavaskar echoed sentiments of many as he questioned match referee Javagal Srinath's call to allow Rana to replace Dube. He also took a sly dig at the two players' fielding standards.
“Even by the most generous stretching of the like for like term, there was nothing such between Dube and Rana. With tongue firmly in cheek, one can say that they are the same height and have the same standard in fielding. Otherwise, there’s nothing like for like as far as they are concerned. England has every reason to feel done in. This Indian team is a superb team and doesn’t need its wins to get tarnished by such acts,” the 75-year-old added.
Dube takes 2 wickets at Wankhede
Before the fifth T20I, former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen wanted Srinath to admit his mistake and put an end to the controversy. In the last match of the series at Wankhede Stadium, local boy Dube struck twice in two overs to dismiss free-flowing opener Phil Salt and young all-rounder Jacob Bethell.
After the match, Dube revealed that he has been working with bowling coach Morne Morkel to polish his bowling skills. Coach Gambhir was asked by Pietersen about the controversy to which he replied, "Dube would've bowled four overs for sure today". Gambhir and Pietersen shared a laugh after the coach's comment on the controversy.