Shoaib Bashir has been ruled out of the final two Tests of the England v India series with a broken finger, one hour after taking the final wicket at Lord's.
Bashir battled through the injury, which is to the little finger on his left-hand, sustained on day three of the third Test. He was bowling to Ravindra Jadeja when the all-rounder struck a powerful drive back towards him, striking him on the digit. Bashir immediately signalled to the dressing room that he was injured, and Joe Root completed the rest of his over.
The off-spinner didn't reappear in the field for the remainder of the first innings, but did bat in England's second innings. He was bowled by Washington Sundar for 2 as the last England wicket to fall. As England toiled to take the remaining India wickets on day three, they turned to Root again before Bashir rejoined the fray, bowling with heavy strapping on his left hand.
Bashir takes 'heartbreaking' final wicket
England were made to work hard for the victory, which had looked within their grasp from the beginning of the day. Jofra Archer struck early in the morning session, bowling Rishabh Pant with a beauty, and India were eight wickets down at Lunch.
However, Jadeja played a stoic knock to finish 61 not out off 181 balls, while Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj dug in for 84 balls between them. Despite taking the extra half hour before Tea to try and snare the final wicket, the game went on into the third session, with India getting to within 23 runs of victory.
But, Bashir struck in his sixth over of the innings. He removed Siraj in "heartbreaking" fashion, the No.11 blocking the ball down into the pitch, only to see it spin and roll back onto the stumps knocking off a single bail. As Bashir ran off in celebration, Siraj crouched in the middle in disbelief. The wicket sealed England a 2-1 series lead.
Just one hour after the game, it was announced that the fracture to Bashir's finger would end his involvement in the series, and that he is to undergo surgery in the next few days. England will announce their squad for the fourth Test match in the next few days, and have several options to weigh up for how to replace the off-spinner.
READ: England could replace Shoaib Bashir if injury rules him out of fourth Test
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