Jos Buttler rushed to hospital for an X-Ray amid injury scare
It is lunchtime in Day 2 of the first Specsavers Test between India and England at Edgbaston, and the match is at a beautiful juncture right now, with neither team really holding an upper hand. Having dismissed the English batsmen completely early in the day, India came into bat and is not at a precarious 76/3 at the end of 21 overs, with captain Kohli and vice-captain Rahane just about weighing their anchors at the crease.
Meanwhile, fresh reports have surfaced of Englishman Jos Buttler suffering from an injury scare after he failed to gather a Kohli shot directed at him and the ball crashing right into his fingertips hard, immediately after hitting the ground. The incident happened in the first ball of the 17th over when Kohli was still looking to get off the mark. He nipped an Anderson delivery towards gully where Buttler was fielding. The ball was low but still on the air and hence Buttler attempted a catch but couldn't quite make it, as the ball touched the ground and knocked at the middle finger of his left hand, before carrying away to almost the fence.
He immediately showed evident signs of pain but continued on the field with just four overs remaining for lunch. As lunchtime ensued, it has now been reported that Buttler has consulted the hospital for an X-ray to check whether a mishap has actually occurred with his finger. More details are not available yet.
Earlier, India started play on Day 2 in a promising note, looking to continue from where they had left off on Day 1. The team got the desired result in the tenth ball of the day via Mohammad Shami, as he sent Sam Curran packing to dismiss the entire squad for 287, just two runs added to their overnight total. India in return, had a promising start, with the openers Vijay and Dhawan bringing up the 50-run partnership in 11.1 overs. This was followed by 14 dot balls in succession and in the fourth ball of the 14th over, the first wicket fell via Vijay at the same score.
KL Rahul, who then came in to bat, was promptly sent back almost immediately as he dragged a wide-of-off-stump ball back into his stumps. Dhawan also followed, playing a careless drive attempt at a ball which instead caught his bat's edge and flew straight to Malan at slips. From 50/0, India now found themselves at 59/3, a real spot of bother. Kohli and Rahane then took India to lunch without further harm, adding 17 more runs to the team total.
A real surprise factor, that was what England pacer Sam Curran was, as he picked up all the three Indian wickets that fell so far. He did so in a space of eight balls, after getting the ball to swing against Vijay and Dhawan and forcing an error out of Rahul. Anderson and Broad, who were expected to lead the English attack, instead produced dull spells and would probably benefit by learning a thing or two from young Curran, the way he's bowling currently.