India wicketkeeper and vice-captain Rishabh Pant had to be substituted on the field on day one of the Lord's Test against England.
India lost a record 13th toss on the trot and had to take the field as England chose to bat first for a change. After a probing but wicketless first spell, India struck a double blow courtesy Nitish Kumar Reddy, who removed both openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley in his first over.
Joe Root and Ollie Pope have held forth since, but run-scoring has not been easy. The first 37 overs of England's innings have only fetched them 109 runs for two wickets, at a run rate of 2.94.
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Rishabh Pant walks off injured in Lord's Test
India suffered a blow on the field in the 34th over. In an attempt to stop a wayward Jasprit Bumrah delivery down the leg side, Pant could only get the tip of his fingers to the ball, hurting himself.
He took a lengthy break on the field, getting treatment from the physio. Pant appeared to be in significant pain, seemingly having trouble putting his wicketkeeping gloves back on. However, he stayed on till the end of the over. Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel, the other designated wicketkeeper in India's squad, was seen getting ready outside the boundary. After the over, Pant left the field and was substituted by Jurel.
India also have KL Rahul in their XI as a keeping option if needed. Rahul is a regular wicketkeeper in ODIs and has kept in Test matches as well.
Ian Ward, commentating when the incident happened, suggested India could have used Rahul as Pant's replacement behind the stumps. “I'm sure he'll (Jurel) get up to speed pretty quickly, as he's a quality keeper and et cetera ... but probably easier for KL Rahul to have done it, because he's been out there at slip, he's got the pace of the pitch and the game,” he said.
Will Rishabh Pant be able to bat?
The extent of Pant's injury is unclear so far as there has been no update from the Indian side yet. However, live visuals did not look good for Pant.
“So Rishabh has had some treatment off the field, and he's now going upstairs,” Ward said on air. “Peering down at that digit, which looks very different than the one on the other hand. As you said, Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara), lot of swelling there... potential fracture?”
“Hopefully not, for India,” Sangakkara replied. “If there is a fracture, will be very difficult for him to bat. You don't get a substitute for an injury like that, only concussion. Don't want to be a batter short, especially a batter of the quality of Rishabh Pant.”
Can wicketkeepers be substituted?
In a 2017 amendment, ICC updated the substitutes law to allow substitute fielders to act as wicketkeepers in case of injury or illness to the designated wicketkeeper named in the original XI. However, a substitute fielder is not allowed to act as captain.
Last month, it was reported – and later confirmed – that the ICC would ask various boards to trial injury substitutes in first-class cricket for the upcoming season.
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