Gambhir and Stokes at opposite ends of injury replacement debate

India head coach Gautam Gambhir and England captain Ben Stokes stood at opposite ends of a fierce debate: whether a team should be allowed a replacement player if one suffers a serious external injury during a Test match.

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The topic arose sharply after Rishabh Pant fractured his toe while batting on the opening day of the Manchester Test.

Pant, though hobbling, courageously returned to the crease the next day and added a further 17 runs to score his third half-century of the series, to go with twin hundreds in Leeds. Yet, his involvement ended there, with Dhruv Jurel stepping in as a substitute wicketkeeper for the remainder of the game.

Gambhir voiced strong support for a rule that would permit teams to bring in a replacement under such circumstances, to prevent the contest from becoming an uneven ten-versus-eleven battle. "Absolutely, I'm all for it," Gambhir said after the game. "If the umpires and the match referee sees and feels that is a major injury, I think it's very important. It's very important to have this rule where you can get a substitute, that is, if it's [the injury] very visible.