Former England captain Michael Vaughan on Wednesday called for a tweak in the rules following Rishabh Pant's foot injury, while another ex-England skipper, Alastair Cook, disagreed.
Rishabh Pant was retired hurt and went for scans after copping a blow on his right foot while attempting a reverse sweep off England pacer Chris Woakes on the opening day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Vaughan said the unfortunate injury had made the balance of the Test uneven.
"I don't like the fact that we've got four days left in the game — four days of action in what has been an incredible series — where we are going to have ten versus eleven," Vaughan said on Test Match Special.
"I prefer that you'd have a sub. You know, once they brought in concussion subs, I was crying out, saying, ‘Well, just have substitutions then in the first innings of a game.’ That would be my stepping point. If it happens in the second innings, I feel that team might kind of break the rules or indulge in a bit of skullduggery.
"But if it's clear and obvious — when someone breaks a hand or a foot or ruptures a calf — it's so evident that someone is in real pain and can't carry on. I think it's very clear to me: you should be allowed a sub."
Meanwhile, Alastair Cook disagreed and raised a hypothetical scenario: what if it’s just a bruise?
"I’m not sure I agree," said Cook.
"I’m not even sure what I think at the moment. But say we've just seen Pant walk off — he looks in all kinds of pain. And then it turns out it’s not broken.
"So there’s nothing on the X-ray — it’s just a bruise. Does he have to play on then? If he has broken his foot, then that’s a different thing.
"But there will be cases where someone gets hit on the arm. ‘I can’t move my hand, I’m bruised.’ But it's only a bruise. So do you get replaced because of discomfort and the fact that you can’t hold the bat as well as you’d like — even though it’s just a bruise?"
Pant was batting on 37 off 48 balls at the time. The wicketkeeper-batter first received on-field medical attention but had to be moved off the field in a golf cart labelled as an ambulance.
Blood was seen seeping from Pant’s right foot, and the affected area was visibly swollen. More details on his latest injury are awaited.
Woakes’ full-length delivery crashed into Pant’s toe, and the England players went up in appeal for leg-before. But a tiny inside edge on review saved the day for Pant.
This was Pant’s second injury in the series — he had bruised his finger while keeping during the third Test at Lord’s, which prevented him from guarding the stumps in England’s second innings.
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