@Cultured_Bogan said in [Cricket Season Thread](/post/1291201) said:
Should be scrutiny over the replacement keeper rule too. A bit ordinary that Pant was able to stay off the field to let a better keeper in Saha take the field, only for Pant whom is a better bat to return and nearly crack a ton. Clearly his elbow wasn't in that bad shape.
The match referee OK'd it since keeping involves diving around and since the injury was still so fresh. Definitely looks sus but any team would've done this.
Yeah, I would like the rule fixed to ensure it doesn't happen again. Saha is a superior keeper and Pant is the better bat. They effectively played with 12 players. Maybe teams need to have a back up keeper in their 11.
I wouldn't be happy with us exploiting the rule either for the record. It's not necessarily cheating because it is within the rules but it is very much not in the spirit of the game.
I don't think Pant was in any physical shape to keep yesterday considering he had gone for scans the night before. Today he batted simply because he had to.
For the future, I am happy with this rule as a wicket keeper is a specialist position, losing a wickie seriously handicaps you, but the replacement keeper shouldn't be allowed to bat. Not having a wicketkeeper pretty much nullifies your spinner's wicket taking ability IMO.
I think if you trade a keeper out, that's it. He's out for the game. Saha should have completed the game for India.
But he isn't in the 11? Replacing an injured fielder is common practice but 12th/13th man is never allowed to bat/bowl. I don't know what else any other team would've done. It's a good rule and especially good when a wickie gets injured.