Overview:
India did not confirm at the time the extent of Pant’s injury, but he was replaced as wicket-keeper by Dhruv Jurel for the remainder of the match.
When Rishabh Pant was hit on his foot and suffered a fractured foot on Day 1 of the fourth Test against England, Michael Vaughan suggested introducing an injury substitute rule in cricket to deal with such issues. He was not in favour of a team playing with 10 players and taking on a rival who has 11 players.
However, his idea didn’t please the England Test captain Ben Stokes, who called it ridiculous.India did not confirm at the time the extent of Pant’s injury, but he was replaced as wicket-keeper by Dhruv Jurel for the remainder of the match.
He wasn’t required to bat in India’s second innings, with the visitors earning a draw in Manchester after Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar (101 not out) all reached centuries on the final day.
Pant’s injury has raised the question of substitutions in Test cricket, but England captain Ben Stokes described the debate as “ridiculous”.
“There would just be too many loopholes for teams to be able to go through,” he said. “You pick your 11 for a game. Injuries is part of the game.”
England leads the series 2-1, going into the final Test at the Oval next week.
