Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has voiced support in favour of introducing an injury substitute in cricket. The statement comes amid Rishabh Pant’s foot injury during the ongoing 4th Test between India and England in Manchester. On the second day of the test, Pant braved the adverse physical conditions and despite being unable to walk properly, he scored a half-century. Pant has a toe fracture and has been reportedly advised to rest for six weeks.
Sunil Gavaskar advocates for injury subs
Meanwhile Sunil Gavaskar criticised the ICC during a discussion on Sony Sports Network on the concussion sub rule and said, “I’ve always felt that you are giving a like-for-like substitute for incompetence.” He added, “If you are not good enough to play short-pitched bowling, don’t play Test cricket; go and play tennis or golf. You are giving a like-for-like substitute for somebody who can’t play the short ball and gets hit.”
While asserting the need for injury substitutes, Gavaskar said, “Here, it is a clear injury (Pant); there has to be a substitute. I want some sort of committee appointed to take a call on this.” “There is a cricket committee, ICC has a cricket committee, but at the moment, that’s headed by Sourav Ganguly, the ICC chairman is Jay Shah, and the ICC CEO is Sanjog Gupta,” he added.
How will Pant’s injury impact Indian team?
The injury to Rishabh Pant means that India is short of a player in the ongoing 4th Test against England at Manchester. However, as the series was scheduled, Pant was forced to bat in the first innings and should return in the second innings as well if the team requires.
The international cricket community has a divided point of view on introducing injury substitutes. Michael Vaughan former cricket captain of Team England, has advocated for injury substitutes. However, cricketers such as Alastair Cook and Parthiv Patel have expressed their reservations, citing the potential of the team exploiting the rule to gain unfair advantage.