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The recent Duleep Trophy 2025 semi-final between West Zone and Central Zone marked the first instance of the ‘serious injury’ replacement being used in domestic cricket, as Maharashtra batter Saurabh Nawale was drafted into the WZ playing XI, in place of Harvik Desai.
After conceding a 162-run first-innings lead during which Desai opened the innings and fell for 1 off deliveries and subsequently kept wickets in the Central innings, the Saurashtra wicketkeeper-batter was ruled out of the match after reportedly sustaining a quadriceps injury. After Central piled on a whopping 600-run total to take the innings advantage, wicket-keeper Nawale walked in as the first ‘serious injury’ replacement under the BCCI’s updated playing conditions for the 2025-26 season, issued last month.
Nawale, however, had a forgettable outing as he was cleaned up for nine runs off 31 deliveries by Central off-spinner Saransh Jain. West Zone eventually finished on 216 for eight before the players shook hands, propelling Central Zone into the final against South Zone based on the first-innings lead.
What is the BCCI’s ‘serious injury’ replacement rule?
Introduced in the aftermath of star Test wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant’s toe fracture during the fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England in late July, the BCCI introduced the ‘serious injury’ replacement guideline for multi-day matches in the updated BCCI guidelines for the 2025-26 season.
This new rule allows a team to substitute a player who suffers a serious external injury during a match with a like-for-like replacement. According to the new playing conditions, the injury must occur on the field and can include a fracture, deep cut, or dislocation that forces the player out of the game. The on-field umpires, after consulting with the match referee and the team doctor, will have the final say on whether the injury is serious enough to warrant a substitution. If approved, the team manager can then submit a formal request for a replacement player. This new rule does not apply to white-ball cricket.
In June, the ICC had announced that similar replacements will be trialled by all Full-Member Nations in domestic first-class cricket for players who suffer ‘serious injury’ during a game.
