File photo of Jos Bottler.© AFP
England captain Jos Buttler has taken a harsh dig at the Indian cricket team following the concussion substitute controversy in the fourth T20I in Pune. India all-rounder Shivam Dube got hit on his helmet on the penultimate delivery of the hosts’ innings. He was checked by the physio before continuing to bat. Dube got run out on the very next ball which also happened to be the final ball of the Indian innings. During the innings break, the all-rounder was replaced by pacer Harshit Rana as a concussion substitute. The move sparked a huge debate as ICC rules state that a concussion substitute has to be a like-for-like replacement.
Many former cricketers spoke against what transpired in Pune and even England captain Jos Buttler showed his dissatisfaction over the incident after the game. He added that he was not consulted about the change.
During the toss for the fifth and final T20I vs India, Buttler took a harsh dig at the Indian cricket team, naming his benched players as impact substitutes.
Notably, the impact player rule, which has also been put in place in the Indian Premier League, allows a particular team to introduce a 12th player from their list of mentioned players, who are known as “impact subs”. Interestingly, there is no such rule in international cricket, yet Buttler mentioned his benched players as impact subs.
“We played some good cricket in patches. We should have executed it better though. Need to grab the special moments in the game. There’s a good vibe in the team, it’s a good venue and it’s a great crowd. It’s a good wicket, Mark Wood comes back in. Both teams are high-octane. We have four impact subs in our team,” said England captain Jos Buttler after the toss.
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