"Absolutely ridiculous" - Ben Stokes slams conversation around injury replacements after Rishabh Pant's foot fracture in Manchester Test

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.

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.

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):

"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. "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.

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.

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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.

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.

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Edited by Renin Wilben Albert