Gautam Gambhir buries ‘Harshit Rana-Shivam Dube concussion sub’ critics with savage statement

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India National Cricket Team head coach Gautam Gambhir talked about Harshit Rana being used as a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube. He said that the all-rounder would’ve bowled four overs in the match.

The five T20I series between the India National Cricket Team and the England National Cricket Team concluded on Sunday (2nd February). The Suryakumar Yadav-led side emerged victorious by the margin of 4-1 as they were all over the opposition with bat and ball in all the games.

The competition between bat and ball in the series was high, but it also was marred by the massive controversy that unfolded during the fourth T20I of the series. The match took place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday (31st January).

Harshit Rana replaced Shivam Dube as a concussion substitute during the fourth IND vs ENG T20I

India National Cricket Team were forced to use the concussion substitute after all-rounder Shivam Dube was hit on the head while batting. With rules suggesting that like-for-like replacements will be allowed, it was expected that Ramandeep Singh would be entering the field and replacing Dube.

But that wasn’t the case as Harshit Rana replaced Shivam Dube and made his debut for the India National Cricket Team in a unique way. This move turned out to be game-changing as the pacer picked three wickets and helped the Suryakumar Yadav-led side win the game.

Following that, the India National Cricket Team faced massive criticism for not using the like-to-like replacement. Many experts said that the hosts played for 12 years, and even England National Cricket Team skipper Jos Buttler wasn’t amazed at it as he expressed his frustration in the press conference.

“He would have bowled four overs for sure today.” – Gautam Gambhir’s hilarious response to Kevin Pietersen

After the T20I series concluded, Kevin Pietersen was seen asking Gautam Gambhir about a concussion substitute. Replying to this, India’s head coach came up with a hilarious response and said: “He would have bowled four overs for sure today.”

We want to go as hard as possible and sometimes that cushion of having that No. 8 would free up the top 7 more – Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir also talked about the India National Cricket Team’s strategy to play just one frontline pacer in the team. He said that they wanted to have the No.8 batter because they wanted to go as hard as possible, and it gives extra cushion to the top order. Gautam Gambhir said:

“It is about having the No. 8 batter, even if he does not face too many balls, because of the kind of cricket that we are playing. We want to go as hard as possible and sometimes that cushion of having that No. 8 would free up the top 7 more.”

India won the fifth game of the series by a margin of 150 runs. They posted a massive total of 247 runs on the board with Abhishek Sharma slamming a brutal 135. With the ball, Mohammed Shami picked three wickets while Shivam Dube, Varun Chakravarthy, and Abhishek Sharma bagged two each as they bundled out the opposition for just 97 runs.

Also Read: “Very process-oriented”: Suryakumar Yadav in awe of Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakravarthy after crushing ENG




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