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Rishabh Pant’s Injury During ENG vs IND Tests Forces BCCI To Introduce New Rule

Samarnath Soory

Last updated: August 16, 2025

3 min read

Rishabh Pant was in tremendous form in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, starting with brilliant hundreds in both innings in the first Test at Headingley, followed by two more fifties in the next four innings at Edgbaston and Lord’s.

In the third Test, however, Pant was hindered by a finger injury while keeping wickets as the uneven bounce troubled the gloveman. Pant shook it off when he came out to bat in the match, but he was clearly in pain in the fourth Test when he was hit on the foot while trying to sweep pacer Chris Woakes.

Pant retired hurt but came back to bat in the first innings and also managed to reach a fifty, much to the adulation of the Manchester crowd. After that episode, India head coach Gautam Gambhir welcomed the idea of a ‘serious-injury replacement’ in cricket in the vein of Concussion Substitute.

However, England skipper Ben Stokes brushed it off calling it a ridiculous suggestion. Woakes was forced to walk out to bat with arm in the sling during the fifth and final Test at The Oval despite sitting out of the match until then due to a shoulder dislocation while fielding.

BCCI takes cue on injury replacements from Rishabh Pant injury in ENG vs IND Test series

This discussion has led to the BCCI introducing a new rule for the 2025-26 domestic season involving multi-day play.

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“If a player sustains a serious injury during the course of the relevant match, a Serious Injury Replacement may be permitted in the following circumstances. The serious injury must have been sustained during play and within the playing area described in clause,” the new rule in the Playing Conditions section says.

Serious-injury replacement rule to apply for Duleep Trophy and Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season

According to a report by Cricbuzz, the replacement rule doesn’t apply to white-ball tournaments such as the Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-Overs) and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20). Duleep Trophy and Ranji Trophy are the multi-day format tournaments in the Indian domestic calendar.

Even though the BCCI has pushed this new rule, its effects will only be known once the 2025-26 season of Ranji Trophy concludes. Concussion Substitute rule has not come under fire at the international stage as it is related to the topic of serious head injuries.

In February, however, England took exception with India substituting pace-bowling all-rounder Shivam Dube with out-and-out pacer Harshit Rana.