Vizag, India

James Anderson reveals Joe Root’s injured finger is not great at the moment, but if needed, the England veteran will come and bat in the fourth innings of the ongoing Vizag Test. Early during day three, Root suffered a blow to his finger while standing in the slips after an edge from Shreyas Iyer’s bat fell short of him. 

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Root appeared to be in pain and left the field immediately. He spent most of the time inside the dressing room, with the medical staff attending to him throughout the day. 

With Root down and out in the second over of the third day, England was a bowler less during India’s second innings; they, however, made up in the end, thanks to valiant efforts from the spin trio of Shoaib Bashir, Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley, who picked eight wickets among them. 

Despite Shubman Gill’s third Test hundred, first against England at home, England wrapped India’s second innings on 255.

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Revealing in detail about Root’s current situation and what his chances of batting in the fourth innings, where England is chasing 399, Anderson said, "His finger is not great. 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 on the ground and be OK to hold a bat."

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"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,” veteran England seamer added.

England need Root on day 4

Although the veteran batter has endured a poor run thus far in three innings in India (scoring just 36 across three innings), England will need him to weather Bumrah and spin trio storm in their quest to go for the win and make it 2-0 in the five-match series.

As things stand, England is 67 for one, with Zak Crawley (29*) and nightwatchman Rehan Ahmed batting (9*).