England suffered a huge blow after Joe Root was taken off the field after picking injury on Day 3 of the ongoing second Test against India in Visakhapatnam. England's star batter injured his right little finger on February 4 during Day 3's play. England cricket furnished the update about Root's injury right after the lunch.
“Joe Root sustained an external blow to his right little finger, attempting a slip catch in the first session of D3. 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,” England Cricket said in a statement.
Root incurred the injury in the 18th over of India's second innings when he attempted to intercept an edged shot from Shubman Gill at the slips.
While facing a delivery aimed off by spinner Tom Hartley, Gill advanced and struck the ball forcefully, resulting in a thick edge that veered towards Root's left in the slip area. Despite managing to touch the ball with a finger, the former England captain couldn't secure the catch, and the ball crossed the boundary.
Although Root has not been performing well with the bat in this series, he has taken 4 wickets for 79 runs and 1 wicket for 41 runs in the first Test at Hyderabad. His contributions with the bat were limited to scores of 29 and 2 in the Hyderabad Test, and he only added 5 runs in the first innings of the current match.
Meanwhile, India are also grappling with injury setbacks in the ongoing Test series against England. It appears unlikely that the experienced fast bowler Mohammed Shami and versatile all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will make a comeback to the Test squad for the series against England. Mohammed Shami is presently in the process of recuperating from an ankle injury sustained during the ODI World Cup in November 2023, while Ravindra Jadeja incurred a hamstring injury during the initial Test match against Hyderabad.
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