England’s injury woes deepen as star seamer is ruled out of second Test

England pace bowler Stuart Broad has been ruled out of the second Test against India at Lord’s with a calf injury, while James Anderson is also a doubt.

Broad missed most of Tuesday’s training session after feeling discomfort during the warm-ups and will undergo a scan on Wednesday to establish the full extent of the injury.

Meanwhile Anderson has suffered a quad injury that has prevented him from bowling in the nets for the last two days. He is said to have a 50 per cent chance of playing in the match starting on Thursday.

24-year-old Lancashire seamer Saqib Mahmood has been called up as cover after impressing in a recent ODI and T20 series wins against Pakistan, while spinner Dom Bess has been released in order to play some white ball cricket for his county Yorkshire.

The injuries to both Broad and Anderson are a further blow to England’s pace bowling attack that is already missing Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, who were all ruled out of the India series.

Durham seamer Mark Wood and Somerset’s Craig Overton are the two most likely to replace Broad, while off-spinning all rounder Moeen Ali is also expected to play after England decided not to pick a frontline spinner during the drawn first Test in Nottingham.

Ali’s last Test match came in February during England’s tour of India but has earned a recall following a string of recent impressive performances with both bat and ball in The Hundred for Birmingham Phoenix.

England captain Joe Root has also hinted that Ali, who hasn’t played a home Test since 2019, could play on Thursday.

‘He’s certainly a big contender to play. He has been called up to the squad for his capability with both bat and ball,’ said Root.

‘The message is: just to go out there and be Moeen Ali. He has the ability to win games with bat and ball, he’s proven that. He plays his best cricket when he is enjoying it and he’s full of confidence – it certainly looks that way at the moment, the way he has taken to The Hundred.’

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