Follow UsThe 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy arguably provided more drama than any series has in the past decade, and the happenings in the series also kick-started the ‘injury substitute’ debate, thanks to what happened across the final three Tests.
At Lord’s, Rishabh Pant hurt his finger on the first day, and was unable to keep for the rest of the game. Pant was at it again at Old Trafford, fracturing his foot on the very first day of the fourth Test. In the fifth and final Test, meanwhile, Chris Woakes dislocated his shoulder towards the end of the first day, ruling him out of contention for the remainder of the Test.
The injuries unquestionably handicapped both teams and set them back, and in the wake of it, we’ve had many former players and experts call for the introduction of ‘like-for-like’ injury subs in serious cases.
But Woakes, like his skipper Ben Stokes, is also against injury subs despite being a victim himself.
“I’m with Stokesy, to be honest. Having played for 18 years, the game is what it is: you lose a player and as a team you have to find a way,” Woakes told The Guardian.
“It makes you more resilient and the team stronger. I do understand why people might think it’s needed for freak injuries like mine but there would be too many grey areas or loopholes.”
Minutes before stumps on day one, Woakes brutally dislocated his shoulder while diving to stop a boundary, and the pain and anguish on his face instantly revealed the seriousness of the injury.
He recalled the horror thoughts that ran in his head as soon as his shoulder ‘popped’. Woakes felt that his career was over.
“The outfield was wet from the rain, almost greasy, and my hand slipped as I landed and my full body weight went through my shoulder. I heard a pop and knew I was in trouble,” he explained.
“The pain came on pretty quickly and my arm was just hanging there. It was grim and my thoughts were racing. ‘Is it game over? Is it career done?’ It was a horrible place to be. We got it into a makeshift sling with my jumper and got off the field.
“It is a horrible feeling, your shoulder not where it should be and worrying it might never get back in. It felt like three hours but the medical staff were amazing.”
As it turned out, the injured shoulder enabled Woakes to display one of the most heroic cricketing acts in history, with him walking out with one arm - with the other hid under his jumper - in an attempt to help England close out a tight game. That didn’t happen, but Woakes did his bit, even running a total of four runs, including a sneaky leg-bye.
“I’m still gutted, devastated really, that we couldn’t get the fairytale. But I never considered not going out there, even if it had been 100 runs still to win or whatever,” the pacer said.
“It was nice to have the ovation and some of the Indian players came over to show their respect. But any other player would have done the same. You couldn’t just call it off at nine wickets down.”