INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND 2025
Rishabh Pant resumed batting in the first innings with an fractured toe © Getty
India head coach Gautam Gambhir and England captain Ben Stokes stood at opposite ends of a fierce debate: whether a team should be allowed a replacement player if one suffers a serious external injury during a Test match. The topic arose sharply after Rishabh Pant fractured his toe while batting on the opening day of the Manchester Test.
Pant, though hobbling, courageously returned to the crease the next day and added a further 17 runs to score his third half-century of the series, to go with twin hundreds in Leeds. Yet, his involvement ended there, with Dhruv Jurel stepping in as a substitute wicketkeeper for the remainder of the game.
Gambhir voiced strong support for a rule that would permit teams to bring in a replacement under such circumstances, to prevent the contest from becoming an uneven ten-versus-eleven battle. “Absolutely, I’m all for it,” Gambhir said after the game. “If the umpires and the match referee sees and feels that is 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 [the injury] very visible.
“There’s nothing wrong in 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 would’ve had to play with 10 men against 11. How unfortunate would this be for us.”
Stokes, on the other hand, dismissed the idea as untenable, warning that such a rule could open the door to abuse and manipulation. Under current playing conditions, replacements are only allowed for concussion or if a player contracts Covid-19 during the match. “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that there’s a conversation around an injury replacement,” Stokes said.
“I think that there would just be too many loopholes for teams to be able to go through. You pick your 11 for a game; injuries are part of the game. I completely understand the concussion replacement: player welfare, player safety. But I think the conversation should just honestly stop around injury replacements because if you stick me in an MRI scanner, I could get someone else in straightaway.
“If you stick anyone else with an MRI scanner, a bowler is going to show, ‘Oh yeah, you’ve got a bit of inflammation around your knee. Oh sweet, we can get another fresh bowler in’. I just think that conversation should be shut down and stopped.”
Meanwhile, Gambhir reserved his highest praise for Pant’s grit and commitment to the team. Although now ruled out of the series, Pant was even prepared to bat in the second innings if the situation demanded it. “Rishabh, already it’s been declared that he’s out of the series. One thing I want to say is that the character, the foundation of this team will be built on something that [he] did for the team and for the country as well. Any amount of praise is not enough for him, especially batting with a broken foot.
“Not many people have done that in the past, and he had put his hand up and that is why I say it. Any amount of praise [is not enough]. I can sit here and talk about this for hours and hours. I think the generations to come forward will talk about this, and generations coming forward should talk about it that there is someone who’s batted with a broken foot.
“It’s unfortunate because of the kind of form he was in, but again he’s an important member of the Test side, and I hope he recovers quickly and comes back quickly, and try and deliver again for us.”
© Cricbuzz
