"A Shivam Dube is not similar to Harshit Rana” - Former India cricketer’s take on concussion sub controversy in IND vs ENG 2025 4th T20I
Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar weighed in on the concussion substitute controversy that marred a thrilling fourth T20I between India and England in Pune. With India leading the five-match series 2-1, batting all-rounder Shivam Dube scored a blistering half-century to help the side reach a competitive 181/9 in 20 overs.
However, Dube was struck by a sharp short delivery from Jamie Overton in the penultimate ball of the innings, resulting in him not taking the field during England's run-chase. Instead, India replaced him with a specialist pacer in Harshit Rana, much to the surprise of everyone concerned.
While Dube is predominantly a batter who could bowl a few part-time overs, his replacement, Rana, was an out-and-out pacer. The move had several former players, especially from England, fuming.
Talking about the same post-match on ESPN Cricinfo, Manjrekar said [0:43]:
"Whether he is exactly like-for-like, not sure. Anyone out there would know that a Shivam Dube is not similar to Harshit Rana. But India could put up a case, which is what they had to do - convince the officials. The argument would have gone in such a way that India would have said we are planning to use Dube for four overs and we have lost his services because of the concussion issue and we want a bowler for that."
He added:
"The rule is much simpler to interpret when it comes to a pure batter or pure bowler. But when it comes to someone who can do both, then there is an issue. In 2020 in Australia, Chahal replaced Jadeja as the concussion substitute because Jadeja is a noteworthy bowler in T20Is and ODIs. And thank god for India that Shivam Dube also has that kind of a record where he has bowled a few overs at the international level. So India could make a strong case."
Adding to England's frustration, Rana produced a game-changing spell of 3/33 in 4 overs to help India win the Pune encounter by 15 runs. It was also Rana's T20I debut for India.
"If common sense was used then obviously Harshit Rana is not a like-for-like replacement" - Sanjay Manjrekar
![Manjrekar spoke about how going strictly by the rule worked in India's favor [Credit: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/02/672de-17383876592852-1920.jpg?w=500)
Sanjay Manjrekar felt the insistence on strictly going by the rules over common sense in the modern era led to the allowance of Harshit Rana replacing Shivam Dube in the fourth India-England T20I.
Dube has played 34 T20Is for India but bowled only 45.3 overs at an average of just 1.3 overs per contest.
"A lot of the decisions that used to be made on the field have now gone into the rule books. Bad light, for example, it was left to the umpires to decide. So, if common sense was used then obviously Harshit Rana is not a like-for-like replacement but because everyone has to go by the rules, India could make a case for Rana to play," said Manjrekar [1:45].
To add to England's woes, the defeat in Pune meant they suffered a series defeat with India taking an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match affair. The two teams will face off in the final T20I in Mumbai on February 2 before the three-match ODI series.