“It is not a like-for-like replacement. We don’t agree with that,” Buttler said after India completed a 15-run win. “Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25 mph with the ball or Harshit’s 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.”
Dube scored his half-century after walking in at 57 for 4 and stitched together a 87-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Hardik Pandya that allowed India to post 181 for 9. During his innings, Dube was twice hit on the helmet by a bouncer – first in the ninth over when he missed a pull off a Jofra Archer delivery that was measured at 146.8kph, and then on the penultimate ball of the innings off Jamie Overton’s 141.5kph bumper. It is not unusual for concussion symptoms to show up belatedly.
“He [Rana] is not the like-to-like replacement for Shivam Dube,” Pietersen had said on air. “You ask anyone in the world, and they will say the same thing. Dube is not a genuine pacer, but Rana is.” Knight also echoed these thoughts.
Rana, who was playing his first T20I, was brought into the attack in the 12th over and he struck with his second ball. He got a shortish ball to skid on and take the outside edge of Liam Livingstone, who had looked to guide it through third. Rana bowled his full quota of overs and picked up three wickets. He also was at short third to catch out England captain Jos Buttler, who walked back fuming and had a few words with head coach Brendon McCullum, perhaps at the approval of Rana as the concussion substitute.
“When Dube came back, two overs into the chase, I was told [about being the concussion substitute],” Rana said after the match. “I have been preparing for a while, not just for this series. I have been waiting for this moment [his debut] to prove myself. When I got the chance, I did not think of the circumstances and just thought about delivering. I have experience of bowling at the death [for KKR in the IPL] and relied on that.”
