Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir and England captain Ben Stokes have stated opposing opinions on the introduction of a replacement player when a significant external injury happens during a Test match. The issue received notice after Indian vice-captain Rishabh Pant fractured his toe while batting on the first day of the Manchester Test.
Despite his injury, Pant returned to the crease and scored 17 more runs to reach his half-century. Following that, Dhruv Jurel took over wicketkeeping as a substitute for the rest of the game. Gambhir expressed strong support for a rule allowing teams to bring in a substitute player in such cases, stating that it would assist maintain fairness and avoid the game from being lopsided due to an injured player.
“Absolutely, I support it. If the umpires and match referee witness and determine that there is a significant injury, I believe it is critical. “It’s very important to have this rule where you can get a substitute, that is, if the injury is very visible,”
Gautam Gambhir told reporters after the draw in Manchester.
“There’s nothing wrong with doing that, especially in a series like this, where the previous three Test matches were so closely contested. Imagine if we’d had to play with 10 men against 11. How bad would this be for us,” he continued.
Stokes dismissed concerns that introducing such a rule might lead to abuse or manipulation. Under the current regulations, replacements are permitted only in cases of 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. 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,” said Stokes.
“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,” he added.
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