The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has promulgated an amendment for the forthcoming domestic season that will permit squads to recruit an alternative player whose absence is necessitated by an acute injury sustained during multi-day fixtures.
Designated the “Serious Injury Replacement” provision, the measure is activated whenever a competitor incurs an external impact—such as a projectile strike or bodily collision—resulting in a clinical state classified as a fracture, dislocation, or extensive laceration. The affected individual must be medically declared incapable of resuming play for the match’s duration.
The adoption of the rule has been expedited by apprehensions articulated in the wake of the Anderson-Tendulkar Test series, during which Rishabh Pant and Chris Woakes sustained injuries that prematurely terminated their involvement. Concussion replacement, which has been in force since 2019, will now be augmented to encompass a broader spectrum of acute bodily trauma.
Implementation of the amendment will be overseen by the on-field umpires, who, in association with the BCCI Match Referee and, where necessary, a pitchside physician, will adjudicate whether a Serious Injury Replacement can be invoked. The official squad administrator must then lodge a written petition directed to the Match Referee, specifying the temporal and circumstantial particulars of the injury incident.
A player substituted for minor injury must be drawn from the substitutes nominated at the toss. An exception exists for the wicket-keeper: should the nominated player be incapacitated and no wicket-keeper appears on the substitutes’ list, the Match Referee may permit a replacement sourced outside the original list, provided the balance of the match remains unaffected.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has specified that this regulation pertains exclusively to multi-day formats. Limited-overs competitions—specifically the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy—are exempt, although age-group fixtures, including the CK Nayudu Trophy, will observe the same provision.
It remains unclear whether a parallel policy will be adopted in the Indian Premier League. For the present, the pronouncement represents a shift in the management of unforeseen injury in Indian domestic multi-day cricket.
