The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between England and India witnessed some thrilling action. The series, which ended at a deadlock of 2-2, saw players from both teams giving it their all. Hence, it is no surprise that Rishabh Pant and Chris Woakes walked out to bat at some stage of the series despite battling serious injuries. Pant sustained a foot fracture in the fourth Test at Manchester after inside edging an attempted reverse sweep onto his foot, while Woakes dislocated his shoulder in the series decider at the Oval.
The injuries to Pant and Woakes started a discussion about whether replacements should be allowed when players suffer serious injuries during a Test match to even the contest out. While India head coach Gautam Gambhir was in favour, England captain Ben Stokes wasn’t.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has assessed Rishabh Pant’s situation in the England series. The cricket body has amended the playing conditions for the upcoming domestic season, allowing “serious injury replacements” for multi-day tournaments such as the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy.
“If a player sustains a serious injury during the course of the relevant match, a Serious Injury Replacement may be permitted in the following circumstances,” the newly-introduced rule states, according to Cricbuzz.
“The serious injury must have been sustained during play and within the playing area described in the clause,” it added.
Under this rule, if a player suffers a serious injury, a like-for-like replacement would be allowed. However, this would only apply to multi-day tournaments. Hence, the new rule would not apply to the Syed Mushtaq Ali or Vijay Hazare Trophy.
It remains to be seen whether the rule will be introduced for the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the serious injury replacement rule will stick in the multi-day Under-19 tournament for the CK Nayudu Trophy.
What did Gambhir and Stokes say?
After Rishabh Pant suffered a fractured foot in Manchester, India head coach Gambhir said that injury replacements are needed to even the contest out. Or else, the opposition can get an advantage.
“Absolutely, I’m all for it. If the umpires and the match referee see and feel that it’s a major injury, I think it’s very important. It’s very important to have this rule where you can get a substitute – that is, if it’s very visible. There’s nothing wrong with doing that, especially in a series like this where it’s been such a closely-fought series in the previous three Test matches. Imagine if we had to play with 10 men against 11. How unfortunate would this be for us,” Gambhir told reporters after the end of the Manchester Test, which ended as a draw.
On the other hand, England captain Stokes labelled it as a “ridiculous” suggestion, saying there is no need to change the rules.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that there’s a conversation around an injury replacement. There would just be too many loopholes for teams to be able to go through. You pick your eleven for a game; injuries are part of the game,” he told reporters.
According to Cricbuzz, the BCCI has also amended playing conditions regarding short runs and retiring batters. With BCCI introduced such a major rule change regarding injury replacements, it needs to be seen whether the ICC take a stock of the situation and introduce the same in international cricket.
