James Anderson was warned Joe Root may not be fully fit for England’s historic run chase after suffering a finger injury during day three of the second Test in Vizag.
Root took a blow to the finger in Sunday’s warm-up and then another while fielding at slip in the morning session, as an edge from Shreyas Iyer off Anderson’s bowling bounced short of him.
The all-rounder looked in pain and left the field for treatment, with Root then sitting out of the remainder of India’s innings as the hosts were bowled out for 253 to set England 399 to win.
Tom Hartley (right) took four wickets in the second innings and Rehan Ahmed claimed three, with James Anderson (middle) finishing 2-29
A statement from the England management team during the afternoon session said: “Joe Root sustained an external blow to his right little finger, attempting a slip catch in the first session of day three.
“The England medical team will keep him off the field for the time being to treat and ice. At this stage, there is no indication of when he will return to the field.”
Root will hope to be fully fit to feature in their fourth-innings chase, which would be the highest ever by England and also the biggest by any team on Indian soil, with Ben Stokes’ side requiring another 332 runs for victory after closing day three on 67-1.
Zak Crawley will resume day four unbeaten on 29
“His finger is not great,” Anderson said. “He took a blow in training this morning and again on the field. It’s just making sure that is as good as it can be for when he bats.
“Hopefully tomorrow he’ll turn up at the ground and be OK to hold a bat. He was just making sure he could do everything he could to help us out in the second innings, just making sure it’s as good as possible for tomorrow.
“There’s a chance we will need him with the bat so it’s making sure he can hold a bat. I don’t think there’s concerns. It’s making sure he’s as good as he can be.
“There’s no point risking it for an external blow, no point risking it further out in the middle, so it’s making sure he’s good enough to bat.”
James Anderson has taken five wickets in the Test, taking his career total to 695
Stokes’ side have won eight of their 10 fourth-innings pursuits in the ‘Bazball’ era, including their record of 378 against the same opposition at Edgbaston 18 months ago, with Anderson expecting England to show attacking intent in their latest chase.
“I know there are 180 overs left in the game, but we will try to do it in 60 or 70,” Anderson added. “That’s the way we play, and we saw that tonight with Rehan [Ahmed] going out and playing his shots. We have set our stall out.”
Follow over-by-over text commentary from the second Test between India and England, in Vizag, live on skysports.com and the Sky Sports App from 3.45am on Monday (first ball at 4am).
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