Team India bounced back in the fourth T20I on Friday, January 31, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium after losing the third T20I in Rajkot. This time fate was with England's skipper Jos Buttler, who won the toss after losing it in the first three consecutive matches. After winning the toss, he decided to bowl first, which led to India batting first in the fourth T20I.
Harshit Rana was the concussion substitute for Shivam Dube in the fourth T20I. Everyone had a doubt on who was the real mastermind behind India's decision to bring Harshit Rana. He made a dream debut against England in the T20I, producing a match-winning spell and taking three wickets. Rana himself revealed that head coach Gautam Gambhir was the real mastermind behind all this planning. He said,
"It is still a dream debut for me. When Dube came back (to the dugout), after two overs I was informed by Sir (Gambhir) I would be the concussion substitute. It is not just for this series; I have been waiting for an opportunity for a long time, and I wanted to prove I belong here. I have bowled well in the IPL and was just following the same here."
While India got the chance to bat first, it didn't turn out to be in their favor as wickets started to fall down very early in the game. In the first over, only Sanju Samson (1) lost his wicket, Tilak Varma (0) got dismissed on the very first ball, and the skipper, Suryakumar Yadav (0), was all trapped in the strategy of Saqib Mahmood. After that, Abhishek Sharma (29) and Rinku Singh (30) managed to add only 79 runs with the loss of 5 wickets in 10.4 overs. However, the real heroes of the game stepped into the field and took the responsibility onto their shoulders. Hardik Pandya (53) and Shivam Dube (53) played a crucial role in India rescuing from a difficult situation, putting up an 88-run partnership, leading India to 181/9.
England got a fiery start from Phil Salt (23) and Ben Duckett (39) in the powerplay. By the end of the powerplay, England remains to dominate the game, bringing the score to 62/0. However, after that, India came back into the game with Ravi Bishnoi, who took the crucial wicket of Duckett, and Axar Patel dismissing Salt, which for a moment shook their confidence. Ravi Bishnoi and Harshit Rana took three wickets each, Varun Chakravarthy two wickets, and Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh took a single wicket each. India won the match by 15 runs.
India has now clinched the series 3-1 and will be playing their final match in Mumbai on February 2, Sunday, at the Wankhede Stadium.