England spinner Shoaib Bashir sustained a fracture to one of his left fingers and has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test series against India.
He is scheduled to undergo surgery later this week.
Bashir came up with the match-winning wicket of Mohammed Siraj in the third Test at Lord’s to give England the 22-run victory and a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
The young spinner suffered the injury during the third day of the third Test as he bowled to Ravindra Jadeja, a low drive coming straight back to him and hitting him on his left hand.
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Watch highlights between England and India on the final day of the third Test from Lord’s
England will name their squad for the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford in the next couple of days.
Following the win at Lord’s, Stokes admitted it was not good news on Bashir but commended the bravery he had shown to go out and bat for his team before coming up with the winning wicket.
“Every time I turned around to the bench to ask for a drink, I saw Bashir’s little head peeking out there ready to go,” Stokes said.
“We were obviously told by the match officials that when he wasn’t bowling he could stay off the field but when he was bowling he had to stay out there.
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Tensions are rising again between England and India as Brydon Carse and Ravindra Jadeja clash over run obstruction
“We threw a lot at their batting line-up with seam so just breaking that flow of the game up with spin was something I was going to go to.
“It is great that Bash was able to get that last wicket with what he had to deal with this week.
“It is not good news. It will be disappointing for us as a team and for him.
“It is a big shame but the courage that he showed to go out there and bat for us and be willing to sit there on the bench and wait for his moment to bowl, I think it proves how much it means to everyone who gets to put the shirt on.
“Not even a couple of breaks is going to stop anyone getting out there.”
Who are the options to replace Bashir?
For Sky Sports Cricket’s Nasser Hussain and Stuart Broad, the top options to replace Bashir are Jack Leach, Liam Dawson and Jacob Bethell.
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England and Jofra Archer are on fire this morning as the bowler takes an incredible one-handed catch to remove Washington Sundar for a duck
“You have somebody who has been in the setup for a while like Jack Leach, he could come in,” said Hussain.
“It depends who they want as their second spinner in Australia. You think Bashir is going to go as a second spinner.
“You could go Liam Dawson, I really like Dawson as a cricketer.
“It has been opened up with him with the white ball stuff, he has come into the T20 side and done well.
“Everyone is getting on and he is back in the fold and he has been with Brendon McCullum.
“Then you can go Jack Carson, the young off-spinner down at Sussex.
“I was speaking to Cheteshwar Pujara about him today and he said he is a real talent.
“There is also Calvin Harrison but he is a bit left-field.
“Then there is Jacob Bethell. You could play Bethell as a spinner who bats now that they are up and really go deep with your batting.
“For me it is Leach or Dawson but they could go anywhere with this selection.”
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Dinesh Karthik believes that England should select Jacob Bethell over Ollie Pope for the third Test against India, claiming that the youngster has a big future playing test cricket
“I think it is a difficult one, isn’t it? At Old Trafford, I think you need a specialist spinner,” added Broad.
“That mention of Bethell who could come in and bat at No 8 then bowl some left-arm spin and then use Joe Root as the left-arm off spinner.
“Leach is still on a central contract, he was the second spinner in New Zealand.
“Dawson is a solid option as well, isn’t he? He did really well in the T20 up in Durham.
“He is a solid cricketer, he is not going to let you down, and he fills in well at No 8 if you wanted to give Chris Woakes a rest.”
England vs India – results and schedule
All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all on Sky Sports
The series continues on July 23 until July 27 with the fourth Test between England and India, live from Old Trafford on Sky Sports.
