In a significant move aimed at strengthening worker welfare across sectors, India's long-awaited labour reforms have come into force today, with all four new labour codes officially notified and implemented from November 21, 2025. The new labour codes have introduced a series of landmark reforms
HT Kick Off: Sudden impact
“God had sent me here to do something good,” Shafali Verma said after being chosen as replacement for injured opener Pratika Rawal. Brilliant and belligerent in equal measure in Sunday's Women's ODI World Cup final, Varma's statement reminded me of two comments made 52 years apart in football World Cup finals. The first was Amarildo being called the one possessed (o possesso) in the 1962; the second was made by Joachim Löw to Mario Götze before he came on in the 2014 final: “Show Messi that you are better than him,” said the Germany coach.
Substitutions have been allowed in football World Cups since 1970. From 1954, injured players could be replaced in the qualifying campaign but it was in Mexico that substitutes, tactical or to replace an injured player, were allowed in the finals.
Cricket adapted to change a lot later. The International Cricket Council has allowed injured players to be replaced after the deadline for naming squads since the 2003 ODI World Cup. In 2016, Lendl Simmons literally flew into Mumbai and sent India out of the World T20.
In the 2019 Ashes, Marnus Labuschagne became the first concussion sub replacing Steve Smith (and what a replacement he turned out to be!). Impact subs (the closest to football's tactical substitutions) were introduced in the Indian Premier League in 2023.
Like Verma, Amarildo was not the first-choice; she wasn't even in the squad of 15 for the World Cup. Like her again, he was a replacement for a form player, Pele. Beating four defenders en route, Pele had scored one and assisted Garrincha to help Brazil break down a doughty Mexico. But in the next match, against Czechoslovakia, Pele suffered an injury that would end his World Cup. It could have left any team wobbly. Not Brazil.
In Amarildo they had a player who, like Verma, embraced the occasion instead of being intimidated by it. Her first scoring shot, after run-machine Smriti Mandhana had played out a maiden to start India's batting, was an aerial drive. Verma played a glorious knock and was India's woman with the golden arm. “Didn't really expect her (Verma) to bowl much today so a bit of a surprise factor from them,” said South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt of Verma.
Amarildo scored twice with headers against Spain in the group stage. In the final, the then Botafogo striker gave Brazil hope with an equaliser. “In losing Pele, Brazil had found Amarildo,” Brian Glanville wrote in “The Story of The World Cup.”
Four years later, Jimmy Greaves got injured and was replaced by Geoff Hurst. Hurst went to score the first hattrick in a World Cup final. It wasn't till the 2022 iteration that another was scored in the title-round.
Plucked from relative obscurity, Salvatore Schillaci and Sergio Goycochea became famous subs in the 1990 edition; one an inspired change, the other forced by injury. Schillaci hadn't played for Italy before the finals. “I got the last place in the squad,” Schillaci told BBC reminiscing on a tournament where he won the Golden Boot (six goals) and the Golden Ball.
Had Nery Pumpido not been injured, Goycochea would have stayed Argentina's second goalkeeper. He finished as the goalkeeper of the Cup and a runner-up whose tie-breaker saves were crucial in taking Argentina to their second successive final.
Injury to Lars Bender meant Christoph Kramer would, like Schillaci, be a last-minute addition to Germany's 2014 World Cup squad. Minutes before the final, he got to know he would play as Sami Khedira pulled up with a calf muscle injury. But a collision in the 17th minute with Ezequiel Garay left Kramer disoriented though he was replaced only 15 minutes later. Enter André Schürrle.
Eighty-one minutes later, Schürrle would find Götze, one sub to another, to score and give Germany the World Cup. “I had a great view of it going in,” Schürrle is quoted as saying of Götze's volley in “Das Reboot”, Raphael Honigstein's book chronicling Germany's triumph.
Nearly the same age as Verma is now, Götze had come to Brazil on the back of a poor season with Bayern. Like Verma, Götze had been hailed as a prodigy, compared to Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. He had redeemed himself that afternoon at the Maracana. Just like Verma did DY Patil Stadium.
Note: Found an excellent compilation of impact substitutes in this video.
Source: HindustanTimes
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In a significant move aimed at strengthening worker welfare across sectors, India's long-awaited labour reforms have come into force today, with all four new labour codes officially notified and implemented from November 21, 2025. The new labour codes have introduced a series of landmark reforms
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