Indian bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur is a doubtful starter for the second Test against England slated to be played at Lords in London from 12th August if reports in the Guardian are to be believed. If Shardul does miss out, India could go with a spinning option in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin.
India went with Ravindra Jadeja as the lone spinner in the opening Test in Nottingham in order to accommodate Shardul Thakur as the bowling all-rounder. The presence of Jadeja and Shardul meant that India had depth in their batting line-up. While Shardul didn’t prove his worth with the bat, his twin wickets in both innings changed the complexion of the game.
Ashwin despite being arguably the finest spinner in this format had to sit out due to the team combination. Many pundits were baffled at his exclusion from the team sheet despite consistent performances in Australia and against England at home.
Meanwhile, star English fast bowler Stuart Broad is likely to miss the second Test after tweaking his right calf during a training session ahead of the second Test. Broad looked off-colour in the first innings of the opening Test but came to his own in the second innings where he dismissed KL Rahul with an unplayable delivery. If Broad misses out, England could prefer to go with Mark Wood.
“England seamer Stuart Broad has tweaked his right calf in today’s warm-up at Lord’s," ECB said in a statement.
“He was unable to train this afternoon with the rest of the England squad. Broad will have a scan tomorrow to determine the extent of his injury,” the statement further added.