With Rishabh Pant fracturing his toe and India staring at the possibility of playing the remainder of the Manchester Test with just 10 players, the age-old question as to whether teams should be allowed replacement places mid-way through a game in case of an injury has cropped up. As per the existing rules teams can opt for a replacement player in case of concussion, but if there any other external injuries like in the case of Pant fracturing the toe, replacement is not allowed. Like the Lord’s Test, India will now have to look towards Dhruv Jurel to keep wickets but won’t be allowed to bat.
As the BCCI’s medical team is exploring the possibility of Pant walking out to bat by taking pain-killers, his mobility will be severely affected. Such injuries are common occurrence in Test cricket with the question of allowing replacement players even coming up regularly in ICC Cricket Committee meetings. While cricket has allowed tactical substitutions in white-ball cricket (Super Sub in ODIs) and Impact Player in IPL, it has never been in place in Test cricket.
Speaking on BBC, former England captain Michael Vaughan believed teams should be allowed replacements if a player is injured in the first innings of a Test. “Injury replacements should be permitted in Test cricket in the first innings of the game. There should be an independent doctor on site. If the doctor deems a player unable to carry on playing, you should be allowed a sub. It should only be in the first innings. If you allow it to go into the second innings, there could be a little bit of skullduggery. If there’s a genuine injury in the first innings, it affects the game and the entertainment, which fans pay money to watch. The first innings is a good cut-off to make it fair,” Vaughan said.
Former Zimbabwe seamer Henry Olango too weighed in his thoughts saying he would encourage teams seeking substitute even if there is no injury. “I’m open to the idea of substitutes, perhaps with a limited number, but not necessarily like-for-like and not only restricted to injuries. If you want to grow the game globally, then make it more like other sports where subs are allowed. Think of football, tactically if a game is going in a certain way, substitutes can be used to tweak the direction. If a fast bowler is going for a few runs, why not replace them with a spinner? I don’t think it will be a popular opinion, but I am sticking to it,” Olango said.
Former England spinner Vic Marks also reckoned the idea of allowing replacement players or substitutes in case of an injury is worth considering. “It would take a bit of administrating, just to make sure the injury is absolutely genuine. You wouldn’t want to see anyone have the opportunity to fake injuries in order to change the nature of a team because of conditions or lack of form. We had it in rugby where fake blood was spilt, so we want to avoid that. You need that proviso to make sure the system isn’t abused, but it is something that should be examined,” Marks said.
