Ben Stokes and Rishabh Pant grapple with fitness concerns in Lord's Test

England and India will begin the second day of the Lord's Test with major injury concerns after an attritional opening day on Thursday.

Hosts England edged ahead after a tense battle with star batter Joe Root's unbeaten 99 helping them reach 251-4 by stumps in the third Test.

Root had come to the rescue once again as the home team stumbled to 44-2 after all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy struck twice in his first over to remove openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley.

Root, 34, dug in on an unusually tacky Lord's surface with the team's run-rate just around three an over.

England captain Ben Stokes was 39 not out after helping Root add an unbroken 79 for the fifth wicket.

However, Stokes appeared to tweak his groin before the close. He struggled while running between the wickets and England will be keeping their fingers crossed when play resumes on Friday.

Not only will Stokes have his work cut out with the bat, he will also be expected to carry the burden with the ball as he is an important member of the bowling attack, which also includes the returning Jofra Archer whose workload is unlikely to be high since he is playing Tests after four years.

If Stokes's bowling abilities are hindered, it will be a big blow for England as that will mean either extended spells for other pacers or more spin from the Shoaib Bashir, who has failed to impress so far.

India too have a similarly serious concern. Vice-captain and wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant hurt his index finger. He was in pain and did return for the last half of the day.

Dhruv Jurel replaced Pant and excelled behind the stumps. After tea, Ollie Pope (44) went after spinner Ravindra Jadeja and Jurel produced a brilliant reflex catch.

Pant's finger injury will be a worry for India. While they have a quality replacement with the gloves in Jurel, the substitute can't bat in Pant's place. According to the rules, replacements are allowed only in case of concussion.

Therefore, Pant will have to bat with a damaged finger.

He has been the second highest run-getter for India after captain Shubman Gill, scoring 342 runs in the first two matches, and his effectiveness with the bat in the Lord's Test could have a major say on the series, which is finely poised at 1-1 at the halfway mark.

England, meanwhile, are hoping Stokes's injury is not too serious.

“Fingers crossed it's nothing too serious and he can do something magic and come back strong. We'll see how he pulls up tomorrow,” Pope said on Thursday.

“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 to 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.”