England Cricket Team has suffered an injury scare ahead of the 1st Test against New Zealand after skipper Joe Root suffered a painful blow on the right hand during practice at Lord’s. The 1st match of the series begins on June 2 (Wednesday) at the Lord’s in London.

The English captain immediately left the nets for treatment after being struck by a ball delivered by coach Chris Silverwood from the ‘dog-thrower’ training device. Joe Root then worked inside with assistant coach Paul Collingwood before returning to England’s first major outdoor practice of the summer.

Joe Root suffers injury ahead of 1st Test

The senior batter has suffered some bruises and might miss the final training session on June 1 (Tuesday) as a precautionary measure. However, he is expected to be available for selection for the series opener against the Black Caps. If the problem does turn out to be worse than first diagnosed England have both Haseeb Hameed and Sam Billings in reserve after they were called up following the injury to Ben Foakes that will hand James Bracey his Test debut.

Joe Root has enjoyed stellar overseas tours against Sri Lanka and India reestablishing him as one of the fab-four. He has scored two double centuries and another big century and will be hoping to keep up the good work in the upcoming home summer.

Root & Co has rested IPL-bound English players from the upcoming series while ace all-rounder Ben Stokes misses as he continues to recover from the finger injury he suffered in the Indian Premier League.

After the first Test at Lord’s, the caravan shifts to Edgbaston in Birmingham for the second and the final Test of the series. England also face Virat Kohli-led India in a five-match much-awaited Test series after this starting August 4.