Jos Buttler incensed as controversial concussion sub Harshit Rana inspires India

England captain Jos Buttler was left fuming after concussion substitute Harshit Rana helped India to a T20 series-sealing victory in Pune.

The fast bowler collected three key wickets after replacing Shivam Dube, who batted for one more ball after being struck in the helmet by a Jamie Overton bouncer but was deemed unfit to field in England’s chase.

Dube is a batting all-rounder and Rana a genuine quick bowler but, while rules state any change must be like-for-like, match referee Javagal Srinath, a former India international, approved the switch.

Buttler revealed he plans to speak to Srinath for further clarification.

“It’s not a like-for-like replacement, we don’t agree with that,” he said. “Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball or Harshit has really improved his batting.

“They had a like-for-like replacement in Ramandeep Singh, so we are quite confused as to how Harshit Rana was able to come into the game. We’ll ask Javagal some questions.

“I still think we should have gone on to win the match, but we disagree with the decision.”

Saqib Mahmood’s triple-wicket maiden after Buttler called correctly at the toss for the first time in the series reduced India to 12 for three while they were 79 for five in the 11th over before innings of 53 from both Dube and Hardik Pandya lifted the hosts to what seemed a competitive 181 for nine.

England’s hopes rested on Overton but with 25 required off the last dozen deliveries, the bowling all-rounder inside-edged on to his stumps after Rana had conceded just six in the penultimate over.

England were all out with two balls unused, scuppering a winner-takes-all showdown in Mumbai on Sunday, as Brendon McCullum’s first series as white-ball head coach ended in defeat.

“We got in positions to win the game and it’s disappointing we didn’t,” Buttler said. “We did a lot of things really well: the early wickets setting them back and we were in a great position in the powerplay.

“I think we weren’t far off. We created the chances. The position we’re in, we’ll improve and we’ll go on to win those games.”

Mahmood was player of the T20 series in the Caribbean in November, taking nine West Indies wickets including eight in the powerplay, and he hit top gear from the off in his first match of the series.

Replacing Mark Wood, Mahmood dismissed Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma with his first two deliveries then also claimed the wicket of India captain Suryakumar Yadav to silence the home support.

“He was fantastic,” Buttler said of his Lancashire team-mate. “He bowled really well in the West Indies with the new ball picking up wickets.

“He was great today, it was awesome to see and got us off to a fantastic start; from those positions you generally go on to win games. It’s a shame we didn’t convert that.”