England Test skipper Ben Stokes and head coach of the Indian cricket team Gautam Gambhir have had their say on injury replacements after the end of the Manchester Test.
The fourth Test in Manchester ended in a draw after India batted for two full days to save the Test match. The defiance was started by KL Rahul and Shubman Gill and it was continued by Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.
The hard-fought draw in Manchester helped India keep the series alive. The scoreline still reads 2-1 and India have a chance to level the series heading into the fourth Test at The Oval starting from July 31.
Also Read: Rishabh Pant Injury Update: Narayan Jagadeesan Named as Pant’s Replacement, No Spot for Ishan Kishan
Absolutely Ridiculous - Ben Stokes On Injury Replacements
The third Test saw Rishabh Pant picking up a toe injury. Despite being seriously injured, he walked out to bat with a broken toe after getting his scans done and scored a brilliant half-century for India. It was Dhrubv Jurel who took the keeping gloves in his place throughouty the Test match.
Meanwhile, England skipper Ben Stokes said that injury replacements are “absolutely ridiculous” . As per the current rules teams can opt for concussion replacements but not for external injuries as was the case with Pant. With the rule not in place, the Indian team management was almost forced to make him bat despite his serious injury.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that there’s a conversation around an injury replacement,” Stokes said during the post-match press conference after the Manchester Test.
“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,” he added.
Meanwhile, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir said he was “absolutely all for it.
“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” said Gambhir.
“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,” he further added.
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Pant To Miss Oval Test
Meanwhile, on account of his fractured right toe, Rishabh Pant is all but ruled out of the fifth Test at The Oval. Tamil Nadu keeper-batter, N Jagadeesan has been named as his replacement by the BCCI.
