Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has blamed India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav for tarnishing the team’s victory with unnecessary controversy over the concussion replacement issue. The former India opening batsman claimed that Shivam Dube may not have suffered a concussion during the fourth T20I against England and that the decision to bring in Harshit Rana as a like-for-like replacement was completely unjustified.
Writing in his column for the Telegraph, Gavaskar stated, “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.
“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 legendary cricketer added.
What is the concussion substitute controversy about?
During the 4th T20I match between India and England in Pune, Shivam Dube had been hit on the helmet just as the Indian innings was about to get over. It was later revealed that concussion substitute rule had come into play and the Indian team had requested for Harshit Rana as Dube’s replacement which was approved by the match refree and umpires.
England skipper Jos Buttler and many former cricketers took serious offence to the decision, questioning how Dube (a batting all-rounder) could be replaced by Rana (a proper fast bowler).
“It is not a like-for-like replacement. We don’t agree with that. Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball or Harshit has 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,” Buttler had told the broadcasters after the match.
