Recently, during the recently ended Duleep Trophy semi-final between West Zone and Central Zone, wicketkeeper batter Saurabh Nawale created history just by entering the field for West Zone BCCI Centre
of Excellence in Bengaluru. Nawale replaced Harvik Desai in the playing XI who suffered a quadricep injury during the match.
Harvik Desai was in the original playing XI and also opened the innings for West Zone along with Yashasvi Jaiswal. After getting out for just one run, Desai also kept wickets while Central Zone were batting. However, he had to leave the field due to quadricep injury. After that, Saurabh Nawale came as a like-to-like replacement for Desai in the second innings of West Zone. He took the field as per the new ‘serious injury replacement’ rule by the BCCI.He ended up scoring just nine runs off 31 balls coming as a replacement.
What is Serious Injury Replacement rule by the BCCI?
Some of the fans must be wondering what is the Serious Injury Replacement rule due to which Saurabh Nawale was able to replace Harvik Desai in the middle of the match. According to this rule, "If a player sustains a serious injury during the course of the relevant match, a Serious Injury Replacement may be permitted in the following circumstances. The serious injury must have been sustained during play and within the playing area described in clause 1.2.5.2. The injury must have occurred due to an external blow and result in fracture/deep cut/ dislocation etc.”
The BCCI came with this rule ahead of the start of the 2025-26 Domestic season in India. The need for this rule emerged after key players like Rishabh Pant and Chris Woakes had to take the field despite suffering painful injuties in the recently ended Test series between England and India. Pant came out to bat in the second innings of the fourth Test despite getting his foot injured while Woakes came to bat for England in the final Test as number 11 batter with a plaster on his shoulder.
