England unchanged for Oval; Stuart Broad retained for final Test
The England selectors have retained all members of the squad that triumphed over India in Old Trafford for the final Test match at The Oval.
An unchanged 13-member squad indicates that Stuart Broad, who suffered a nasty blow to his nose on the third day of the last Test will be fit to take the field for the decider. The Nottingham-born was at the reveiving end of a telling blow from Varun Aaron.
A short pitch delivery at a good pace climbed up to sneak past between the batsman’s grille and the peak of his helmet to hit him on his nose. He left the field immediately and it was later confirmed that he is nursing a broken nose.
Click here to watch the delivery.
The 28-year-old revealed his injury to the world on Sunday and suggested that he may play at Oval with a mask.
Little bit sore this morning but not too bad! Doc did a great job with the stitches. On to The Oval! (With a mask) pic.twitter.com/PH3kiCqufX
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 10, 2014
England never seemed to be troubled by the speedster’s absence as they eased their way to beat India by an innings and 54 runs by the last sesson of day 3.
Steven Finn and Ben Stokes are the reserve pacers in the squad. It is likely that Finn, who played his last Test against Australia at Nottingham last year will be making his comeback, if England team managment decides to go the safe route. Chris Woakes, with just 2 wickets to his name from 50 overs across 4 innings in the series so far might consider himself lucky to keep his place.
India who made 3 changes for the last Test will be desperate for a winning combination to avoid another away series loss. England go into the decider with a 2-1 lead.
The Oval Test begins on August 15.
England squad: Alastair Cook (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Chris Jordan, Sam Robson, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes