Manchester, July 28 (IANS) India head coach Gautam Gambhir has advocated for the introduction of injury replacements in Test cricket, suggesting that teams should be permitted to bring in a substitute player in the event of a serious external injury during a match, while England captain Ben Stokes expressed a contrasting viewpoint, calling it a ‘ridiculous’ idea.

India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant retired hurt on the first day of the drawn fourth Test in Manchester but courageously returned to the crease the next day with a broken right foot and added a further 17 runs to score a half-century. India were able to use Dhruv Jurel, a substitute, as their wicketkeeper in Pant’s place, but he would not have been available to bat in their second innings.

Gambhir praised Pant’s bravery and voiced strong support for a rule that would permit teams to bring in a replacement under such instances.

“Any amount of praise is not enough for him… Absolutely, I’m all for it. If the umpires and the match referee sees and feels that it 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?” Gambhir said in the post-match press conference.

As per the current ICC’s playing conditions, replacements are only allowed for concussion or if a player contracts Covid-19 during the match.

Stokes, on the other hand, dismissed the idea as ridiculous, warning that such a rule would contain too many “loopholes” for teams to exploit.

“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 and 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 say, ‘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,” Stokes said in a post-match presser.

–IANS

bc/