Stuart Broad warns of more injuries, says 'I won't be last casualty during India series'

England fast bowler Stuart Broad believes that several players in the home side's camp are at risk of injury during the ongoing series against India. Broad said in a Daily Mail editorial that he won't be England's last casualty during the India series because all of the bowlers are in the "Red Zone." According to Broad, the white-ball season is currently dominating the English roster and most bowlers have had little red-ball game practice in the last several weeks. Broad said bowlers need a bit of practice before bowling in a Test match as they are asked to bowl in longer spells than in white-ball cricket.

Broad believes that bowlers who enter a Test series without having accumulated enough overs in their bank will be vulnerable to breaking down at some point in the game. The 35-year-old said that is why bowlers do not return from injury and immediately begin bowling. Broad said England bowlers normally get red-ball match practice before going into the August Test series but because of the white-ball events there weren't many County Championship matches and every single one of those quicks was in the red zone while bowling at Trent Bridge. 

Stuart Broad's English summer ended abruptly after he suffered a calf injury during the warmup of a training session ahead of the upcoming second Test at the Lord's Cricket Ground. Broad went wicketless in the first innings of the first Test match, conceding 70 runs, and took the wicket of opener KL Rahul in the second innings before rain forced the match to end in a draw. James Anderson had also suffered a quad thigh and was doubtful for the second Test until the playing XI was revealed by Joe Root. Anderson was eventually cleared for the second Test and remained the pick among the bowlers in the first innings as he picked a fifer.  

India vs England 2nd Test

As far as the second Test match is concerned, India dominated on Day 1 and scored more than 270 runs at the loss of just 3 wickets. England bowlers bounced back and picked two back-to-back wickets of set batsmen in the first session of Day 2. India finished its first innings with a total of 364 runs on the board. England started batting on Day 2 and lost three early wickets to finish at 108/3. Day 3 started with a bang for English batsmen as skipper Joe Root smashed his second consecutive hundred against India. Root along with some help from lower-order batsmen helped England take a 27-run lead in the game. Day 4 of the test will begin with India's batting.  

Image: AP