Should there be injury substitutions in Test matches?

The National

4 days ago

England seamer Chris Woakes was ruled out of the remainder of the fifth and final Test against India at The Oval after suffering a shoulder injury on the opening day, the team management announced on Friday.
Woakes injured himself late on Thursday's opening day while trying to prevent a boundary. He landed awkwardly near the boundary ropes and immediately held his left shoulder. The seamer left the field with his left arm in a makeshift sling while wincing in pain.
On Friday, the England management said Woakes will not take any further part in the match.
"England seamer Chris Woakes will continue to be monitored throughout the remainder of the fifth Test at The Kia Oval, following a left shoulder injury sustained on day one of the match against India," an England cricket spokesman said.
"At this stage, the injury has ruled him out of any further participation in the Test.
"A further assessment will be conducted at the conclusion of the series."
India, looking to win the final match and level the Test series 2-2, were 204-6 at Thursday's close after being sent into bat. They were bowled out for 224 early on Friday.
Woakes featured in every match of a gruelling series where five Tests have been squeezed into seven weeks.
There was a chance of Woakes getting rested for the fifth Test but after Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse were rested due to workload management and captain Ben Stokes ruled out due to shoulder injury, England were forced to ask Woakes to lead an inexperienced attack.
Now, they will have to manage without their veteran seamer on a surface tailormade for quicks.
In the fourth Test, India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant broke his foot while attempting a reverse sweep against, coincidentally, Woakes.
Pant had trouble standing up but somehow managed to score a fifty in the first innings. He did not take any further part in the match.
Dhruv Jurel took up the wicketkeeping gloves and Pant was not required to bat in the second innings as all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar scored unbeaten tons to secure a famous draw.
However, the debilitating nature of injuries to Pant and Woakes on the opening day of a Test has resulted in calls for injury substitutions.
Currently, teams are allowed to substitute players only in case of concussion or Covid.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has been vehemently urging for injury replacements to be allowed, especially when they are major ones, resulting from external impacts, and in the first innings of a match.
In the previous Test, India coach Gautam Gambhir said he was in favour of injury substitutes as without it, the contest turns into 10 v 11.
"Absolutely, I'm all for it," Gambhir had said. "If the umpires and the match referee see 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 very visible."
However, England captain Stokes said he is not in favour of injury substitutes as teams can misuse the provision.
"I think it's absolutely ridiculous that there's a conversation around an injury replacement," Stokes said. "I think that there would just be too many loopholes for teams to be able to go through.
"If you stick anyone in 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."
However, with Pant and Woakes's injuries, conversations can be expected to take place about having substitutions for major injuries following external impact in the first innings. More so because every match now can impact a team's standing in the World Test Championship table.