England hopeful on Jack Leach's fitness after bruising day against India in Hyderabad

England are hoping Jack Leach can rally from a “pretty serious” knee injury after the side’s senior spinner struggled to play his part on a troublesome day in Hyderabad.

The experienced left-armer was pencilled in to lead the attack on the turning pitches of India but could only manage a reduced role as the hosts opened up a 175-run lead on day two of the first Test.

He contributed just 16 wicketless overs across three sessions on Friday and none of his spells lasted longer than four, forcing part-timer Joe Root take up the slack alongside rookies Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed.

Assistant coach Jeetan Patel revealed Leach landed awkwardly on his left knee while fielding on the first evening and aggravated the problem with a second blow after returning in the morning session.

Leach, who missed the entirety of last summer’s Ashes with a stress fracture of the back, remained on the field and came on six times in an attempt to disrupt India’s progress.

Ravindra Jadeja scored 81 not out as India finished on 421-7 at stumps after resuming Friday on 119-1. England scored 246 runs in its first innings.

Jadeja was India’s third batter to score 50-plus runs in the first innings, after KL Rahul was out caught for 86 and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal got 80.

“Jack banged his knee last night, the first dive down at fine leg, then he banged it again today and it’s giving him a little jip to be honest,” said Patel.

“It must be pretty serious, or serious for him anyway, because the reality is he wouldn’t shirk that responsibility. It is sore enough, if you watch him in the outfield and I don’t think it’s a graze.

“You noticed he was a little sluggish trying to get to balls, but he stuck at it and I thought he actually bowled really, really well