Captains Shubman Gill of India and Ben Stokes of England shake hands at the end of Day Five of the 4th Rothesay Test Match between England and India at Emirates Old Trafford on July 27, 2025 in Manchester, England.
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Ben Stokes, who was ruled out of the final Test against India due to a right shoulder injury, called for better scheduling and gaps in a five-Test series.
Both teams have struggled in terms of managing player injuries and workloads, and the England captain did not hesitate in admitting that it takes a ‘big toll’ on every player.
“I guess maybe you could look back over five games in a series.
“Could the gaps between games be done a little bit better? You had two eight-day and nine-day gaps between Tests and then two three-day turnarounds; maybe you could look at making it four, five for every game. This way there’s some consistency,” Stokes said.
“It has been tough for both teams. A lot of overs were bowled, and there was a lot of time spent out on the field. That’s part of the game,” he added.
India captain Shubman Gill also agreed that playing over five days has its challenges.
“One of the most important things in the series has been that all the matches have gone up to five days. I can’t remember a series where all four Test matches were played until the last moment,” Gill said.
“Three days is too little of a turnaround when both teams are playing such hard cricket”.
Published – July 31, 2025 02:52 am IST
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