Former India batter Aakash Chopra was waded into the raging debate about the concussion substitution rule. Shivam Dube, who was hit by Jamie Overton’s bouncer, was replaced by Harshit Rana during the 4th T20I match on Friday. Team India have been called out over the with England skipper Jos Buttler voicing his frustrations.
While speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said, “A clear line written in the rule is like-for-like replacement. It means that if you are replacing a batter, assuming Ben Duckett gets a head injury while batting and goes out, when you take a concussion substitute for him at the time of fielding, he can't bowl because Ben Duckett doesn't bowl.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan, while speaking to CRICBUZZ, said, “Can I know who the match referee is? He's decided that Shivam Dube would have clearly bowled four overs. I can guarantee you, if Shivam Dube had bowled four overs, England would have chased the score down."
'They are chalk and' cheese'—Aakash Chopra left confused with India’s tactics
India’s former opener during his chat on YouTube said, “If you take a bowler for a bowler, it has to be a similar bowler. Shivam Dube had a concussion; he got hit on the head in the 20th over and didn't come to field, and you asked for Harshit Rana as the concussion replacement. You could have kept Mohammed Shami also because Harshit Rana is nowhere close to the same skill set as Shivam Dube."
The 47-year-old added, “They are chalk and cheese. Shivam Dube is a batter who bowls a little. He bowls once in a while at a speed of 115 to 120 KPH. He doesn't bowl regularly. Harshit Rana is an out-and-out fast bowler who bowls at 140 to 145 KPH and bats a little at times. This is the reality."
“Shivam Dube batted, scored 53 runs as well, went out and when it was the turn to bowl, Harshit Rana bowled the entire four overs and picked up three wickets, and he won the game for India. In effect, we played with 12 people. Shivam Dube batted and Harshit Rana bowled. It's the best of both worlds," said Aakash Chopra.