The BCCI has introduced a serious injury replacement rule in multi-day domestic tournaments after Rishabh Pant’s foot fracture in the recent England vs India Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series. The thrilling series ended 2-2, but also sparked a major debate when Pant and England’s Chris Woakes played despite serious injuries.
Rishabh Pant fractured his foot in the fourth Test at Manchester after inside edging an attempted reverse sweep. Woakes dislocated his shoulder in the series decider at the Oval. These incidents triggered discussions about allowing replacements for seriously injured players during a Test match.
The BCCI’s new rule applies to tournaments like the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, and the multi-day Under-19 CK Nayudu Trophy. “If a player sustains a serious injury during the course of the relevant match, a Serious Injury Replacement may be permitted,” the rule states. The injury must occur during play within the designated playing area, and the replacement must be a like-for-like player. This rule will not apply to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy or Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Gambhir Supports the Move
India head coach Gautam Gambhir backed injury replacements to keep contests even. “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 said after the drawn Manchester Test.
Stokes Strongly Opposes the Idea
England captain Ben Stokes dismissed the suggestion. “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,” Stokes told reporters.
The BCCI has also updated rules on short runs and retiring batters. It remains to be seen if the ICC will adopt this rule for international cricket or the IPL 2026.
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