England captain Jos Buttler took a dig at the officials during the toss in the fifth and final T20I against England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, February 2. Buttler said that England are playing with four impact subs. Notably, the impact subs rule is only in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The remarks came after Harshit Rana controversially replaced Shivam Dube as a concussion substitute in the fourth T20I in Pune. He played a key role as the Men in Blue won by 15 runs to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
Meanwhile, England made a solitary change for the dead rubber as Mark Wood replaced Saqib Mahmood. Jos Buttler told official broadcasters Star Sports at the toss (via Cricbuzz):
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“Mark Wood comes in, and Saqib Mahmood goes out. We have four impact subs in our team today.”
Buttler also raised his concern regarding the same after the fourth T20I. The 34-year-old alleged the match referee Javagal Srinath didn't ask England before making a decision.
He said (via ESPNcricinfo):
"It is not a like-for-like replacement. We don't agree with that. Either Shivam Dube has put on about 25mph with the ball or Harshit has 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.”
“There was no consultation [with us]. That's something I was thinking as I came out to bat - who is Harshit on for? They said he is a concussion replacement, which I obviously disagreed with. It is not a like-for-like replacement. They said that the match referee [Javagal Srinath] had made the decision. We had no say in it or any part of it,” Buttler added.
Jos Buttler and company opt to bowl against India in 5th T20I
England skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and chose to bowl against India in the fifth T20I on Sunday in Mumbai. They will be keen to end the series on a high with a win and boost their morale ahead of the three-match ODI series against India.
Led by Suryakumar Yadav, India made one change, as Arshdeep Singh made way for Mohammed Shami in their playing XI.
Follow the IND vs ENG 5th T20I live score and updates here.
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