Anderson, who took the top four wickets in India’s second innings in Edgbaston where England took a 3-0 lead to go top of the world rankings, has strained his right quadriceps. Durham pace bowler Graham Onions has been called into the squad as cover.
At a news conference on the eve of the last test of the English summer, Strauss said Anderson had bowled in the nets on Wednesday morning.
“We are very optimistic he is fit to play,” he said.
“He had a good bowl today, but like all these things we have to check how he comes up tomorrow morning. It just seems nothing more than a little niggle at this stage.
“We’ve set a precedent of resting players in the past and I think it’s sensible at times to be able to do that, because of the hectic nature of the international schedule and you don’t want bowlers breaking down for important series.
“But we will only be resting players if we’re absolutely sure they need a rest.”
Strauss said England had had to cope with injuries to pace bowlers Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett.
“That’s always the challenge for you as a side, to make sure you’ve got the strength in depth to be able to mitigate against any sort of injury. If and when we have to deal with that, we’ll deal with it,” he said.
“You can’t rely on one person. That’s one of the things that we’ve been good at, we’ve not relied on one or two people to win us a test match. We’ve had performances from all 11 and when we’re missing a player it’s important the guy coming in can fill that role.”
If Anderson is unavailable, England will choose between Middlesex fast bowler Steven Finn and Onions for the final place.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he had told his team not to panic at the prospect of a humiliating whitewash for the side who had been top of the world rankings at the start of the tour.
“We’ve not been sleeping so this is not a wake-up call,” he said. “It’s not about how easy or hard it is.
“Whether you win or lose, you need to stick to the basics and keep things simple, whatever the result.
“We will stick to our game plan and hopefully it’ll reflect in our performance. This is a sport, we go through tough times. It’s challenges that make life interesting.”
