The captain was taken to hospital last night after suffering with severe dehydration and it was originally thought he’d be unlikely to play any part of the final Test of the Ashes series, however now he could be back-up.
England’s chances of rescuing a draw from the last Test appear to be very slim, as they trail the Aussies by 210 runs even though they have six wickets remaining.
Root had steadied the ship at the crease and was unbeaten on 42 runs from 176 balls.
England Cricket issued a short statement on Twitter which read: “Joe Root is currently in hospital with severe dehydration.
“There will be a further update as to whether he will be fit to resume this morning.”
And now England Cricket have provided a short update which read: “Joe is now on his way to the ground. He is unlikely to start this morning when play resumes.”
Sydney, which is currently hosting the final Test has seen temperatures soar to over 47C.
Meanwhile, England have named their squad for the T20 Tri-Series against Australia and New Zealand.
Root and Ben Stokes have been included, but Moeen Ali has been rested.
Meanwhile, England assistant coach Paul Farbace insists there will have to be a lot of soul searching after the demoralising Ashes defeat.
He said: “Various people will have to sit down and look at a lot of things at the end of a series like this,” said Farbrace.
“We have a choice. We can talk up the positive stuff or we identify the areas where we have not been good enough and we do something about it.
“Everybody needs to look very closely. Have we got the right people in the right places and are we doing the right things? There have been some good things that have come out of this series.”