England's Chris Woakes picked up an injury on the first day of the fifth Test match, leaving the field in the 57th over clutching his left shoulder. Watch day two of England vs India live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.15am on Friday (first ball 11am).
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player.
England's Chris Woakes went down in pain after landing awkwardly on his left shoulder late in the fifth and final Test match against India.
For the second time in the England-India series, the question of whether players can be replaced in Test cricket due to injury has arisen.
This time it was an England player who was in doubt. On the first day of the fifth and final Test against India at The Oval, pace bowler Chris Woakes was sent off clutching his left shoulder in severe pain.
The 36-year-old landed awkwardly on his shoulder in the 57th over as he went after a ball to prevent a boundary being breached and later left the field with his left shoulder wrapped in his jumper.
Indian opener Rishabh Pant was ruled out with an injury on the first day of the fourth Test match in Manchester but returned on the second day to continue playing despite scans confirming a fracture in his right foot.
- Scoreboard: England v India, 5th Test, The Oval 🏏
- No Sky? Watch England vs India without a contract 📺
- Got Sky Sports? Watch Cricket on the Sky Sports App 📱
What are the current rules?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) currently does not allow full replacements in Test cricket matches.
Teams are allowed to replace injured players on the field, but “a substitute player shall not bowl or act as captain, but may act as wicket-keeper only with the consent of the umpires.”
However, if a player suffers a concussion, a substitution is allowed.
The rule has been in place since 2019, when Australia's Steve Smith was hit on the neck by a 92mph fastball from Jofra Archer. He was replaced by Marnus Labuschagne, the first concussion-affected replacement in Test cricket.
Substitutes are allowed to hit and serve the ball.
What do the Sky Sports experts think?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player.
Highlights from day one of the fifth Test between England and India at the Kia Oval as the tourists were reduced to 204-6
Sky Sports' Dinesh Karthike has said that there may be an opportunity to demand a replacement for an injured player in a Test match if the match referee agrees to it.
“This is the second time in this series that an injury has occurred on the first day of a Test match where it appears that the player will not be able to play in the Test match again,” Karthik said.
“The question arises: if it is a genuine injury, as we saw on the pitch with Woakes, perhaps the team could ask for a substitution if the match referee deems it appropriate.”
Former England cricketer Stuart Broad said there were arguments on both sides but the change would improve the quality and standard of cricket.
“There are good arguments, anyway, aren't there?” Broad said.
“Certainly the standard and quality of cricket would improve if we could maintain 11 v 11 throughout the game, especially when it comes to unusual injuries like Pant last week or what happened to Woakes.
“He didn't come out to play with that one injury and he's not trying to deal with it.”
This content is provided by Monterosa, which may use cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your consent to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to change your settings and enable Monterosa cookies or allow them to be used just once. You can change your settings at any time in your privacy settings. Unfortunately, we were unable to verify your consent to Monterosa's use of cookies. To view this content, you can use the button below to allow the use of cookies
Sourse: skysports.com
