Stuart Broad ruled out of India Test series with calf injury
Broad sustained a injury to his right calf, which resulted in a tear, eventually ruling him out of the five-match Test series against India.
In what comes as a major blow to England ahead of the second Test match against India, veteran seamer Stuart Broad was ruled out of the remainder of the series. Broad sustained a injury to his right calf, which resulted in a tear, eventually ruling him out of the five-match series.
"England seamer Stuart Broad has sustained a tear to his right calf and has been ruled out of the Test series against India," ECB said in a statement.
"He underwent an MRI scan in London on Wednesday lunchtime, which revealed a tear," the statement added.
Broad sustained the injury during the warm-up on Tuesday afternoon at Lord’s.
Meanwhile, Saqib Mahmood was called up to the squad as cover, fresh from duty in The Hundred competition. He joins the likes of James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood and Craig Overton as the pace options.
However, the 39-year-old Anderson was unable to join Wednesday’s net session because of a tight quadriceps muscle and is a doubt for the Lord's test. That could mean England lining up for a test match without both Anderson and Broad for the first time since October 2016.
The injury issues with Anderson and Broad are sure to invite further questions over the England and Wales Cricket Board’s schedule, which left both men short of match practice coming into the prestigious series against India.
The first Test at Trent Bridge ended in a draw after the final day was washed out due to rain, without a ball being bowled. Team India looked set for victory, needing 157 runs to win on the final day, with nine wickets in hand, but the weather didn't let that happen.
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India and England will lock horns in the 2nd Test which gets underway on Thursday at Lord's cricket ground.