The incident occurred in the 18th over of India’s second innings when Shubman Gill edged a ball by Tom Hartley to slip. Gill played a length ball with hard hands on his front foot but only ended up with a thick edge that flew towards the left of Joe Root, positioned in the slip cordon.

Root managed to get a finger to the ball but could not complete the catch. What was worse was that the ball ran away for four to give a tentative-looking Gill another lifeline. Batting on 21 at the point, Gill ended the session on an unbeaten 60 and is the key player for India as they look to turn around their fortunes in the series.

Root, meanwhile, copped a blow to his little finger, which kept him out for the rest of the session. The England team confirmed that there is no confirmation on when he would return to the field again. “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.”

Root has not been able to set the series on fire with the bat, but has been crucial for England with his off-breaks posing problems for India. He picked up 4-79 and 1-41 in Hyderabad.

The most experienced of England’s four spinners in Visakhapatnam, he opened the bowling in the first innings of the ongoing Test match. Since 1921, Jack Leach is the only other English spinner to open the bowling in the first innings of a men’s Test match.

However, Root has bowled only two overs in the second innings.