Manchester, UK – July 28, 2025 – After a thrilling tie in the fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford, the discussion about adding “injury replacements” to Test cricket has heated up, with England captain Ben Stokes strongly opposing the concept. This issue picked up a lot of steam after Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant showed great courage by batting with a damaged foot, which kept him out of the series finale.
People will remember the Manchester Test not only for India’s strong batting, which included match-saving centuries from captain Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar, but also for Rishabh Pant’s determination. The left-handed batsman, who broke his right foot after a Chris Woakes delivery hit him on Day 1, came back to bat and scored an important half-century (54 runs off 75 balls) in India’s first innings total of 358. Fans and former players praised him for his strength, courage, and drive, even though Dhruv Jurel took over as wicketkeeper.
Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of India, said after the game that Pant would not be able to play in the fifth and final Test at The Oval because of the fracture. Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan has been appointed to the squad as his replacement. Gambhir spoke out in favor of a “like-for-like” substitute rule, especially when there are serious injuries.
Gambhir said, “I’m all for it.” “And if the umpires and the match referee see and believe that there is a significant injury, I think it is really crucial. This rule is highly significant since it lets you receive a replacement. Especially in a series like this one, where the last three Test matches were quite close. Think about what it would be like to play with 10 guys versus 11. How bad would this be for us?
But England’s captain Ben Stokes disagreed, calling the talk about injured replacements “absolutely ridiculous” since it may lead to loopholes.
Stokes said, “I think it’s completely crazy that there’s a talk about an injury replacement.” “You choose your 11 for a game; injuries are a part of the game. I absolutely agree with the concussion replacement: player safety and player welfare. But I think the talk about injury replacements should just end because I could get someone else in right immediately if you put me in an MRI scanner. If you put an MRI scanner on someone else, a bowler will say, “Oh yeah, you have some swelling around your knee.” Oh great, we can acquire another new bowler. “I just think that conversation should be shut down and stopped,” the all-rounder said, stressing worries that this rule may be used to bring in new players in a strategic way.
Summary of the Match:
England chose to field first in the Manchester Test. Yashasvi Jaiswal (58), Sai Sudharsan (61), and Rishabh Pant (54) all scored half-centuries for India, who scored 358 runs. Ben Stokes was the best bowler for England, taking 5 wickets for 72 runs. Jofra Archer also helped with 3 wickets for 73 runs.
England scored a huge 669 runs in response, thanks in part to a 166-run opening stand between Zak Crawley (84) and Ben Duckett (94). Joe Root (150) and Ben Stokes (141) both scored hundreds, which made the Indian bowlers even more angry. This gave England a huge advantage of 311 runs. Ravindra Jadeja took 4/143 for India, but Jasprit Bumrah had a rare bad day (2/112).
India’s second innings got off to a precarious start at 0/2 after Chris Woakes took two early wickets. But KL Rahul (90) and captain Shubman Gill (103) put together a strong 188-run stand that kept the innings going. Later, the spin all-rounder pair of Ravindra Jadeja (107* not out) and Washington Sundar (101* not out) played with great determination, making things difficult for England and bringing India’s score to 425/4. The game finished in a draw, but India was ahead by 114 runs.
England is up in the series 1-2, which sets up an exciting final at The Oval on July 31. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is said to be thinking about making big changes to the rules of the game to allow for substitutions for catastrophic external injuries, so the argument over injury replacements is certain to continue.