The never-ending tale of injuries continues to plague both England and India at the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, as the latest entrant to the long list of injured players sees English fast-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes being escorted off the field during the first day of the fifth and final Test at the Oval in London on Thursday.
Woakes, who has been integral in England’s bowling attack, landed awkwardly on his shoulder while chasing after the ball at the boundary line in the 57th over. The 36-year-old had to be taken off the field with his left shoulder wrapped in his sweater.
Woakes’ teammate Gus Atkinson provided an update, which England would be dreading as he said: “It doesn’t look great. I will be surprised if he takes any part in the game. It’s a big shame when anyone gets injured. I’m hoping it’s not too bad but whatever it is he’ll get the full support from everyone,” said Atkinson after the day’s play.”
Woakes’ injury has reignited the conversation around the injury replacements, as this has been a major talking point during this season after Indian wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant also had to miss out due to a toe injury he picked up during the fourth Test.
Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik is in favour of an injury replacement and said,” For the second time in this series, on day one of a Test match, an injury has happened where you get the feeling that the player couldn’t participate in the Test match anymore,” Karthik said to Sky Sports.
“It begs the question that if it is a proper injury, like what we have noticed on the field with Woakes, maybe the team could ask for a replacement if the match referee feels it’s okay,” he added.
Adding to this, former England pacer Stuart Broad said there were arguments to be made on both sides. “There are decent arguments either way, aren’t there?. It would certainly improve the standard and quality of cricket if you could keep it at 11-v-11 throughout the game, especially when it’s unusual injuries, like Pant’s last week or what has happened with Woakes. He has not come into the game with that sole injury or is trying to manage an injury,” said Broad.
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Earlier, England skipper Ben Stokes, who himself has missed out on the last Test due to a shoulder injury, had said it is “absolutely ridiculous” to have a conversation on whether teams should be allowed replacement players mid-way through a game in case of a major injury.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that there’s a conversation around an injury replacement,” Stokes had said during the post-match press conference of the fourth Test, where India managed to draw the game with gritty knocks from KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar at Old Trafford.
“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,” he added.
“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,” said Stokes.
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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.
