Ben Stokes: England captain Ben Stokes dismissed the idea of injury replacements in Test cricket amid growing chatter around the topic after Rishabh Pant suffered a fracture in Manchester. The seasoned all-rounder described the conversation as absolutely ridiculous, adding that there are too many loopholes in it.
Ben Stokes: India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir backed the idea of having a concussion substitute in Test cricket, who can bat and bowl, in the event of a serious injury. Speaking at the press conference after the Manchester Test, he opined that the umpires and match referees can take a call on the same in exceptional cases.
Ben Stokes: England captain Stokes, though, was dismissive when asked about the same. Speaking after the drawn Test in Manchester on Sunday, July 27, he said (as quoted by ESPNcricinfo):
Ben Stokes: “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.
Ben Stokes: “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,” the 34-year-old went on to add.
Wasn’t about glory, wasn’t about stats. Not the result we came for, but not one we’ll walk away from 💪
— Rishabh Pant (@RishabhPant17) July 27, 2025
The fight was real till the very end 🇮🇳#RP17 pic.twitter.com/8dkHVKS2Ts
While Dhruv Jurel kept wickets instead of Pant in the Manchester Test, the latter walked out to bat with a fractured foot in India’s first innings. Having retired hurt on 37, he resumed his innings on the next day and ended up scoring 54.
Ben Stokes: Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of 5th Test due to a foot fracture
The BCCI on Sunday issued another update on Pant and confirmed that he had been ruled out of the fifth Test against England at The Oval due to a fracture to his right foot. Narayan Jagadeesan was named as his replacement.
– 7 Innnings.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 27, 2025
– 479 runs.
– 2 Hundreds.
– 3 Fifties.
– 68.43 Average.
– 77.63 Strike Rate.
THANK YOU, RISHABH PANT – The fight with fractured toe will be remembered forever, Wishing a speedy recovery and waiting for the return on October 2nd against West Indies. 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/pxx996Ww4F
Meanwhile, speaking at the post-match press conference in Manchester, India head coach Gambhir lauded Pant for batting despite a fracture. He said:
“Rishabh, already it’s been declared that he’s out of the series. One thing I want to say is that the character, the foundation of this team will be built on something that [he] did for the team and for the country as well. Any amount of praise is not enough for him, especially batting with a broken foot.”
Pant is currently the third-leading run-getter in the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. In seven innings, he scored 479 runs at an average of 68.42, with the aid of two hundreds and three half-centuries.
