'Absolutely ridiculous' – Stokes shuts down talk of injury replacements

Rishabh Pant retired hurt on the first day of the fourth Test between England and India due to a foot injury.

Pant inadvertently slammed the ball into his right boot, with scans revealing that the India wicketkeeper had fractured his foot.

However, he re-emerged on the second day to resume his innings and managed to score 54.

India were able to use Dhruv Jurel as a substitute wicketkeeper in Pant's place, but he would not have been available to bat in their second innings.

While India coach Gautam Gambhir called for the introduction of injury replacements, Stokes does not agree a rule change is needed.

"I think it's absolutely ridiculous that this is a conversation about an injury replacement," Stokes said. "I think there would just be too many loopholes for teams to go through.

"You pick your 11 for the game, injuries are part of the game. I completely understand the concussion replacement because that is about player welfare and player safety.

"But I think the conversation should just stop around injury replacements. If you stick me in an MRI scanner, I could get someone else in straight away.

"You stick anyone else in an MRI scanner and the bowler is going to say 'Oh yeah, you've got a bit of inflammation around your knee, oh sweet, you can get another bowler in'.

"I just think that conversation should be shut down and stopped."

The ICC's playing conditions allow teams to make replacements if a player is concussed or contracts COVID-19, but there is no scope to replace an injured player.

Pant has since been ruled out of next week's fifth Test at The Oval, which starts on Thursday, and replaced in the India squad by Narayan Jagadeesan.

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Stokes' fitness has also come under question. He repeatedly held his leg and right bicep over the final three days of the match, in which he took a five-wicket haul, becoming the first England captain with a five-for in Tests on home soil since Bob Willis at Headingley in 1983.

He then followed that up with a 141 from 198 deliveries. Stokes is the leading wicket-taker on either side in the series with 17, which is also his most successful with the ball across his 12-year Test career.

The 140 overs Stokes has bowled in the series is also the most of his career, and he plans on adding to that tally.

"I don't want to eat my words, but the likelihood I won't play is very unlikely," said Stokes. "Mentally, I'm decent. Physically, I've been better.

"It's been a pretty big workload so far in this series.

"It was another big week in the third Test at Lord's, the same again this week. Pain is just an emotion, so it's just one of those things.

"It's my bicep tendon. It's had a lot of workload through it. It's a lot of time in the middle doing my job. It didn't get any worse.