Joe Root, captain of the English cricket team, suffered an injury before day four of the second Ashes game started on Sunday. The skipper was injured while warming up for the game at the Adelaide Oval.

Team officials said he was hit in the abdomen while having throwdowns ahead of Sunday’s play at Adelaide Oval.

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The team’s spokesperson said that Root, 30, was hit in the abdomen while practicing throwdowns, however, media reports suggest he was hit in the groin. “He is currently being assessed by the England medical team”, the spokesperson said. According to reports from BBC, Root has left the stadium and has been taken for a scan.

Ben Stokes will be taking the leadership role while the skipper is off-field and recovering from the injury, according to media reports. The team did not announce when Root is expected to return to the game.

England currently seeks to avoid defeat in Adelaide and go two-nil down in the five-Test series. To add to England’s problems, Australia resumed on Sunday at 1-45 in its second innings, with a dominant lead of 282 runs.

However, the English side managed to secure two quick wickets early in the day dismissing Michael Neser (bowled by James Anderson for 3 runs) and Marcus Harris (by Stuart Broad for 23 runs).

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Dawid Malan, English batsman said, “Last test match we were in a position, both myself and Rooty, to score hundreds and we didn’t do it”, according to reports from Associated Press.

He added, “And we were in the same position here. That is something we need to do better … if someone gets in, to make sure we get that big hundred.”

A loss for England in Adelaide would leave the visitors 2-0 down in the series and needing to win all three remaining tests to win back the Ashes.

(With AP inputs)