Stuart Broad needs to prove his fitness ahead of first Test against India

07/16/2018

Stuart Broad is on course to play in England's first Test against India, but will need to prove his fitness in advance with Nottinghamshire. Broad experienced swelling in his left ankle during the two-match Test series against Pakistan, since when he has bowled only 22 overs out in the middle.

Stuart Broad would be featuring for a county match for Nottingshire to prove his fitness, before the first Test against India, which starts on August 1. Broad endured a swollen left ankle in the Test series against Pakistan and has undergone pain-killing injections since then. Apart from the 22 overs that he bowled out in the middle, last week he bowled a further 17 in the nets.

He has to get more practice overs under his belt this week, before playing for Nottinghamshire against Surrey in a four-day championship match at Trent Bridge starting on Sunday. Assuming he would emerge fit from that game, he would be ready to take on India at Edgbaston on August 1.

With his Test new-ball partner Jimmy Anderson appearing for Lancashire Second XI at Old Trafford on Sunday as part of his bid to ensure full match fitness ahead of the India series, the pieces are falling into place for England's seam attack. Chris Woakes, who has played no first-team cricket since picking up a thigh strain during the second Test against Pakistan earlier this month, would appear for England Lions side against India A in a four-day game starting in Worcester on Monday.

The prospect of taking the field at Edgbaston with a fully fit Broad and Anderson would be the most desired wish of the new selectorial team of Ed Smith and James Taylor. When England beat India 3-1 at home in 2014, Broad and Anderson picked up 45 wickets between them at 41, getting rid of Virat Kohli six times.

Meanwhile, Eoin Morgan has urged his team to stay positive against Indian left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav as England go in search of victory in Tuesday's third and deciding one-day international at Headingley. Kuldeep destroyed England with six for 25 at Trent Bridge last week and managed three more wickets at Lord's on Saturday. But Morgan's team scored 68 runs against him to script a comfortable 86-run win. Morgan revealed that the players were to be clear with their plans and stuck with them in the match.

“The more we face him, the easier he got to pick but you still have to play him well,” Morgan said as quoted by Daily Mail. “Joe Root was quite significant in that - his rotation of strike, his calm head. I thought we did our basics right. It was much better.

“In between those two games, we emphasised the need to be clear in our plan and sticking to it, and that's what we did.”