England ace-pacer Stuart Broad as per reports is said to have tweaked his right calf during a warm-up session and was unable to train today. The England fast bowler will undergo a scan tomorrow to determine the extent of his injury. The bowler managed only one wicket during England’s first test over India at Nottingham. If Stuart Broad is unavailable, Craig Overton or Mark wood might come into the playing XI.
England will hope that Stuart Broad gets fit, especially with the pacer holding a good record at the venue picking up 95 wickets in 24 matches. It will also be the player’s 150th game if he takes the field. The player has picked up 524 wickets in 149 games at an average of 27.84.
Meanwhile, Moeen Ali has been called up to England’s Test squad to increase the depth in their batting. The English batsmen were heavily criticised for their performance during the first test and captain Joe Root too was in full praise for the all-rounder at the pre-match presser “He’s got capabilities with bat and ball, and that’s why he’s been called into the squad. Albeit the shorter format, he’s in imperious form at the minute, playing with great confidence. We know what he’s capable of in a Test arena. We’ve seen it before, capable of scoring big hundreds, winning games with the ball, he’s a fine cricketer” Joe root said.
Meanwhile, as per reports, Indian pacer Shardul Thakur is unlikely for the second Test having picked up a hamstring injury earlier today. Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will likely be backed to take the field in case the speedster misses out, the spinner was in top form recently for Surrey in the lone county returning figures of 6/27 in the 2nd innings. But if India decides to follow the ‘template’ and want to play with four pacers, Ishant Sharma is likely to return to the XI, having been on the sidelines for the 1st test.
Shardul Thakur had a great outing and justified his selection in the team picking up crucial wickets including that of Joe Root.
