Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir broke his silence on the like-to-like replacement controversy regarding the concussion substitute in the fourth T20I after the end of the five-match series. Gambhir had a tongue-in-cheek response to Kevin Pietersen's response to the concussion sub-controversy. The former English skipper was quite critical of India's ploy to use Harshit Rana as a like-to-like replacement substitute for Shivam Dube, who was hit on the head in the fourth T20I and didn't come out to the field.

The Men in Blue finished the series with another win, ending it 4-1 in their favour. England failed to put up much of a fight at Wankhede Stadium and registered their biggest loss in T20Is.

After the match, Pietersen asked Gambhir about Rana being used as a like-for-like replacement for Dube in the fourth T20I.

"He would have bowled four overs for sure today," Gambhir laughed while speaking to Star Sports.

Meanwhile, India have adopted a rare combination in the five-match series and stuck with only one frontline pacer in the XI and a fast-bowling all-rounder, assisted with spin-bowling options.

Gambhir opened up on the combination and approach of using Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakaravarthy in the middle overs to stop the free-flowing English batting lineup.

"See, for me, having Bishnoi and Varun bowling in tandem was very important, especially in the middle phase. We always knew that the kind of batting line-up England had, they would always come hard at us in the first six overs. But it is the 7-15 that we wanted to control and see if those two wicket-taking options could give us success," Gambhir said.

‘It’s also about having the no. 8 batter': Gambhir

The head coach further said that the Indian T20I team's current approach needs a number 8 with batting abilities which is why they are sticking with one frontline pacer in the XI.

"It is also about having the No. 8 batter, even if he does not face too many balls, because of the kind of cricket that we are playing. We want to go as hard as possible and sometimes that cushion of having that No. 8 would free up the top 7 more," Gambhir concluded.

Read Also: Gavaskar Critiques Gambhir's Team Management

"Get the latest Bollywood entertainment news, trending celebrity news, latest celebrity news, new movie reviews, latest entertainment news, latest Bollywood news, and Bollywood celebrity fashion & style updates!"