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England bowler Brydon Carse is set to miss Wednesday’s Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan and is a doubt for the remainder of the tournament.
Carse, 29, has been struggling with a blister on a toe on his left foot and the issue reoccurred in Saturday’s defeat by Australia.
Carse had trouble with the injury and returned figures of 1-69 from seven overs.
Jamie Overton would be the most like-for-like replacement for Carse against Afghanistan, who England will likely have to beat to progress.
If Carse is ruled out of the tournament, they are able to call in a replacement but there are no travelling reserves with the squad in Pakistan.
Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed was with the squad in India. If the 20-year-old were brought in it would give England a second frontline spin option, in addition to Adil Rashid, for Saturday’s match against South Africa.
England’s quicks took 3-226 combined across 26.3 overs against Australia.
If England do manage to navigate a way out of Group B then they would most likely face India in Dubai, where spin has played a key role.
Carse was picked for the Champions Trophy despite missing the final two ODIs of England’s tour of India because of the toe issue earlier this month.
The injury required stitches, which were removed shortly before the tournament began.
“We will have to wait and see,” England batter Joe Root told the BBC in Lahore.
“There is still a good way to go until the game, to find exactly what is up with Carsey. We will see how things pan out over the next few days.”
Carse has impressed for England this winter after making his Test debut against Pakistan in October.
He has a contract worth £100,000 to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, which begins next month.
Boycott would not have positive impact – Root
Afghanistan are also winless in Group B after losing to South Africa in their opening game. Whichever side loses will likely be out of the tournament.
There has been debate around whether England should boycott the match because of the Taliban’s assault on women’s rights in the country.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have called for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to do more but confirmed earlier this month the match will go ahead.
Root reaffirmed their view that boycotting would not have a “positive impact”.
“Clearly there’s things over there that are hard to hear and read up on but cricket is such a source of joy for so many people,” Root said.
“For a number of people within Afghanistan, I think it’s an opportunity to celebrate – cricket gives them hope, gives them joy. Hopefully the two teams can do that in this next fixture.”
