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West Zone's Saurabh Nawale Becomes First-Ever 'Serious Injury' Replacement Player

Aashay Chopade

Central Zone players (Source: PTI)Central Zone players (Source: PTI)

The Duleep Trophy 2025 semifinals are done and dusted, with South Zone and Central Zone making it to the final courtesy of their first innings lead in their respective games against North Zone and West Zone.

Harvik Desai Suffers From Serious Injury In Duleep Trophy Semifinal

Both matches saw some big scores, but it is the semifinal between West Zone and Central Zone that would be remembered as the first-ever game where a team used the 'Serious Injury' replacement player rule. West Zone replaced Saurashtra's wicketkeeper batter Harvik Desai with Maharashtra player Saurabh Nawale.

Harvik Desai opened the innings for West Zone in the first innings, where he scored one run off four balls. He also did his wicketkeeping job and took the catch of Danish Malewar, but then suffered from a quadriceps injury. He was not in the position to bat after that, and with new rules in place, West Zone decided to send Saurabh Nawale at number 3 in their second innings with the bat.

He could not make much of an impact and could score just nine runs. However, his name would go down in history as the first player to take the field as a 'Serious Injury' replacement in India's domestic circuit. The rule has been put in place to allow teams to replace a player incase he suffers a major injury. 

Rishabh Pant's Injury Triggers Rule Change

The replacement rule was introduced by the BCCI in their updated guidelines for multi-day matches in the 2025-26 season. It was done following a widespread demand for a replacement rule after Rishabh Pant's toe injury in the fourth Test against England.

According to a new rule, a team can substitute a player who suffers from a serious external injury, and it should be a like-for-like replacement. Also, the injury must occur on the field and it includes fracture, dislocation and deep cut. The on-field umpire will give the final approval, and the rule, as of now, does not apply to white-ball cricket.