The T20I series between India and England could be over, with the hosts securing a 4-1 triumph, however the concussion substitute controversy from the 4th T20I is not dying down. A lot of former England players and just a few Indians continued to debate the incident whilst the fifth and final T20I between the 2 sides got here under the highlight on Sunday. England skipper Jos Buttler even took a swipe on the incident from the last match by calling his 4 substitutes for the fifth T20I as ‘Impact Subs’. Now, ICC match referee Chris Broad has made some explosive remarks on the controversy.
In a heads-turning post on X (formerly Twitter), Broad claimed that ICC was returning to the ‘bad old’ days of ‘bias and corruption’ by allowing non-neutral match officials to take charge.
“Independent match officials were brought in to stop situations like this! Why are the ICC returning to the ‘bad old days’ of bias and corruption?,” Chris Broad wrote on X.
Reacting to a comment from former England captain Kevin Pietersen, who said that Harshit Rana wasn’t a like-for-like alternative for Shivam Dube, Broad said he absolutely agrees.
“Absolutely agree,” he said in response to Pietersen’s comment. “How can an Indian Match Referee get away with allowing this Indian alternative? Match officials must be independent to omit bias! (sic).”
Absolutely agree. How can an Indian Match Referee get away with allowing this Indian alternative? Match officials must be independent to omit bias!
— Chris Broad (@ChrisBroad3) February 1, 2025
It also must be noted that Broad himself was officiating an England vs Pakistan match last yr in May on the Oval. Asked to comment on the posts, he told Cricbuzz, “I actually have nothing more to say.”
Broad is probably the most respected ICC officials in the game. He has officiated 622 games on the international circuit to this point. The tally makes him stand third within the list of officials with essentially the most matches, behind Ranjan Madugalle (798) and Jeff Crowe (656).
Even Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar had come down all guns blazing on the Gautam Gambhir-led team management, saying even allowing a concussion substitute wasn’t correct.
“Within the Pune game, Dube batted right till the top after having got hit on the helmet earlier, so clearly, he was not concussed. So, allowing a concussion substitute itself was not correct. Yes, there might have been a substitute in case he had strained a muscle while batting, but that will have been just for fielding and he couldn’t have bowled,” Gavaskar wrote in a Telegraph column.
“Even by essentially the most generous stretching of the like for like term, there was nothing such between Dube and Rana. With tongue firmly in cheek, one can say that they’re the identical height and have the identical standard in fielding. Otherwise, there’s nothing like for like so far as they’re concerned. England has every reason to feel done in. This Indian team is an outstanding team and doesn’t need its wins to get tarnished by such acts.”
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