Stuart Broad pens an emotional note after calf injury rules him out for the season
Veteran English pacer Stuart Broad is out for the series against India as well as for the rest of the English summer due to a calf injury. Broad suffered an injury during the warmup of a training session ahead of the second Test. Scans confirmed that it was a Grade 3 tear in his calf.
Stuart Broad took to his official Instagram handle and penned a heartfelt note about his current situation. He expressed his disappointment about missing the series against India and revealed that his primary objective was now to attain ideal fitness for the Ashes in the winter.
Broad wrote:
"Things can change so quickly. A moment before training all smiles, then during the warm up, I jumped a hurdle, landed a bit awkwardly on my right ankle then the next step felt like I’d been whipped by a rope as hard as you can imagine on the back of my leg. I actually turned to @jimmya9 and asked why he whipped me! 😂 but when I realised he was no where near me, I knew I was in trouble. Scans say Grade 3 calf. All so innocuous."
Broad continued:
"Season over & gutted to miss this India Test Series but a huge focus on Australia now. Going to take my time, no rush, baby steps & be the fittest I can be heading out there. Big focus in my brain. Good luck to the @englandcricket boys this week. I’ll be watching every ball from my sofa hoping to see runs & wickets in the glorious Lord’s sunshine!"
Broad's partner in crime and good friend, James Anderson, dropped a comment on the post and wished for Broad to emerge stronger from the setback. Anderson replied:
"Gutted for you mate. Come back stronger 💪 ❤️"
Saqib Mahmood has replaced Stuart Broad in the Test Squad
The ECB has called up young pacer Saqib Mahmood as a replacement for the injured Stuart Broad in the Test squad. He has impressed everyone with his swing bowling in the recently concluded series against Pakistan.
England squad for the second Test:
Joe Root (Yorkshire), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Craig Overton (Somerset), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)