Stokes pulled up with what appeared to be a groin issue late on Thursday.
England are sweating over the fitness of their inspirational captain Ben Stokes ahead of the second day’s play in the ongoing third Test against India at Lord’s.
Stokes pulled up with what appeared to be a groin issue late on Thursday (July 10). The all-rounder received on-field treatment before he batted on until stumps.
The Three Lions ended the opening day at 251-4, with Joe Root 99 not out and Stokes unbeaten on 39.
Stokes's career has been marred by injuries, with a longstanding knee problem requiring an operation in 2023, while the 34-year-old has sustained two serious hamstring tears in the past eight months.
In an encouraging development for the side, Ben Stokes has been able to operate as a complete all-rounder in recent Test matches. Such is his importance to the balance of the team that England will hope Thursday's incident remains a minor problem.
"Fingers crossed it's nothing too serious and he can do something magic and come back strong," said England vice-captain Ollie Pope in the post-day presser. "We'll see how he pulls up tomorrow (Friday).
"We've got a big Test over the next four days and we've got a big two coming up after that so it's important to try and manage him.
"That's one of my roles, to make sure he doesn't push himself to a ridiculous place with whatever he's dealing with at the moment.
"I'm sure the physios and medics will work with him to lay out a plan and I'll help push him in the right direction," added Pope.
Invited to bat first, England lost both openers, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, in the 14th over to Nitish Kumar Reddy before Root and Pope stabilized the innings. While Pope was dismissed for 44, Root ended the day one run shy of his 37th Test hundred.
Pope, however, does not expect Root to suffer too many nerves overnight. "Obviously he'd have loved to have a hundred red (not out), but he's got 36 of them, so I don't think he'll be too sleepless," said Pope. "He'll get his head down.
"It would have been nice to see him get it tonight but he'll be looking at the bigger picture and trying to make it a monster innings. Hopefully we can kick on and get 400, towards 500."
(With AFP Inputs)