Fast bowler Harshit Rana made his international debut in the T20I format for India on Friday. His first game during the fourth T20I came in Pune amidst controversy, as he replaced Shivam Dube as the concussion substitute. Rana picked 3/33 from four overs, which included the scalps of Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, and Jamie Overton.
Speaking at the end of the game, Rana said, “It is still a dream debut for me. When Dube came back to the dugout after two overs, I was informed by Sir (Gambhir) I would be the concussion substitute. It is not just for this series; I have been waiting for an opportunity for a long time, and I wanted to prove I belong here. I have bowled well in the IPL and was just following the same here."
23-year-old Harshit Rana began with the wicket of Liam Livingstone in his very second ball. Jacob Bethell was caught by Suryakumar Yadav before Overton was bowled off an inside edge in the 19th over of the game.
Former England skipper angry over substitution
Alastair Cook wasn’t happy with Harshit Rana replacing Shivam Dube during the fourth T20I in Pune. Cook was speaking on TNT Sports where he said, “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. 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."
England’s former skipper also lambasted his own team for their shot selection, which resulted in the loss. “England were dumb with some of their shots and that is quite a hard thing to say because T20 cricket is a balancing act. Sometimes the modern thinking is not right. Ben Duckett played beautifully today and we were 62 for no loss with one ball of the powerplay left. Just see it out and knock a single, then regroup again."
“I don't know if it is ego to just keep on playing their way. Just take a single and think about how important the next three or four overs against spin are going to be and your best player of spin can go at six or seven an over. If Brook had hit Chakravarthy for six runs, they'd have needed just 10 in the final five overs with their best bowler done," Alastair Cook added.