Harshit Rana in 4th T20I (Source: AP Photos)
The fourth T20I between India and England turned out to be quite an interesting encounter with both teams exchanging blows throughout the game. However, England faltered under pressure at the backend of the game, and India eventually won the game by 15 runs. The win gave India an unassailable lead of 3-1 with one final game to go in Mumbai.
England would be pretty disappointed with how they let things drift away after taking strong position in various junctures of the game, and let's see which where the three turning points of the encounter.
1. Hardik-Shivam Dube Counterattack Under Pressure
India got off to a disastrous start to the game as they were reduced to 12-3 in the initial two overs. Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh tried to bring things back in control, but both of them departed in quick succession after a decent stand and India were again put under pressure with half of side down for 79 in the 11th over.
It looked like India will end up with a below-par score, but Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya started attacking from the onset and brought the pressure back on English bowlers. Hardik Pandya hit 53 off 30 balls while Dube scored 53 off 34 balls as India ended up with a competitive total of 181 which looked far from their reach at one point in time.
2. Ravi Bishnoi-Axar Patel Deliver Deadly Blows: ENG 62-0 To 67-3
The task was a tricky one for England, but their openers, Ben Duckett and Phil Salt started off with a bang. Duckett especially carried his form from the last game and smashed 39 at a strike-rate of over 200. They reached 62 in just 35 balls, but on the last ball of the powerplay, Ravi Bishnoi removed Ben Duckett.
In the next over, Axar Patel got the big wicket of Phil Salt while Ravi Bishnoi cleaned up Jos Buttler in the following over to destroy all the momentum that England had. Those three wickets in quick succession played a big role in making England rethink their strategy and was surely one of the turning point of the game.
3. Harshit Rana's Inclusion As Concussion Substitute
One of the most interesting moment and a game-changing one was Harshit Rana's inclusion as Concussion Substitute of Shivam Dube. The pacer made an unexpected debut and delivered on his second ball, removing the dangerous Liam Livingstone. He was the batter who smashed some big hits in the last match and his wicket was crucial for India.
Harshit Rana then removed another dangerous batter Jacob Bethell and followed it up with a wicket of Jamie Overton to make it a memorable T20I debut for India. His inclusion as Concussion Substitute is debatable as Shivam Dube is more of a batting all-rounder but the move worked wonders for India and proved to be a turning point.