The BCCI has officially added a new clause to its playing conditions for the 2025-26 domestic season permitting Serious Injury Replacements in multi-day matches. Following the recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between India and England this change marks one of the most important updates to the rules in years. BCCI announced new injury replacement follwoing Pants injury in Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy The rule was introduced after the dramatic fourth and fifth Tests of the series in which Rishabh Pant fractured his foot and Chris Woakes dislocated his shoulder leaving both teams short-handed. While concussion substitutes have been allowed for several years but there was previously no provision for replacements due to other serious injuries. If a player sustains a serious injury during the course of the relevant match a Serious Injury Replacement may be permitted the BCCIs updated Playing Conditions state. The injury must be caused by an external blow such as a fracture deep cut or dislocation and it must happen on the playing field. The decision to introduce this rule received mixed reactions. India head coach Gautam Gambhir commenting after Pant’s injury in Manchester expressed his support for the change: Absolutely Im all for it. If umpires and referees see its a major injury why should a team be punished? Imagine playing 10 vs 11 in a closely fought Test. Theres nothing wrong with allowing a visible like-for-like replacement. England skipper Ben Stokes rejected the idea Meanwhile England skipper rejected the idea and said Its absolutely ridiculous that theres even a conversation around injury replacements. Injuries are part of the game. I understand concussion replacements for player safety but this will create loopholes. You pick your eleven; thats it. Despite Stokes’ opinion his teammate Woakes’ shoulder dislocation in the following Test strengthened the demand for rule changes. The BCCI explained that this regulation will not currently apply to white-ball competitions such as the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy or Vijay Hazare Trophy but rather only to multi-day domestic tournaments like the CK Nayudu Trophy (U19s). Additionally it does not cover the Indian Premier League (IPL). The BCCI emphasized that the match referees decision is final and cannot be challenged during a seminar in Ahmedabad where umpires were previously briefed on the rule. Indias domestic experiment may lead to broader debates about whether Test cricket should change to protect teams from the setback of premature injuries even though the International Cricket Council (ICC) has not yet put such a rule into effect.