In the wake of Rishabh Pant’s unfortunate injury during the fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to allow player replacements in cases of serious injuries. The new rule will come into effect from the 2025-26 season and will apply exclusively to multi-day domestic tournaments conducted by the BCCI and its affiliates.
New Clause in Playing Conditions
As per the revised playing conditions, a team will be allowed to bring in a replacement if a player suffers a serious injury during the course of a match and is unable to continue. The BCCI’s official note highlighted:
“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 regulation is set to debut in the Duleep Trophy 2025, marking the beginning of the domestic season. While teams are expected to welcome the move, experts have warned the board to be cautious about potential loopholes that could be misused to gain an unfair advantage.
Gautam Gambhir Backs the Decision
India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir strongly supported the new rule, emphasizing its importance in maintaining fairness during crucial games. He suggested that referees and umpires should be trusted to assess the situation and decide whether a replacement is justified.
“𝑨𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕. 𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒚, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕. 𝑰𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 10 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 11—𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒚-𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔,” 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒉𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕.
The BCCI has yet to release an official confirmation on the final framework of this rule, but it is widely anticipated to be a game-changing addition in domestic cricket.
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