Stuart Broad out of England's second Test against India, James Anderson also a doubt
Stuart Broad has been ruled out of the second Test against India with a calf injury and will undergo a scan on Wednesday; James Anderson is also a doubt with a tight quad; England have called up Lancashire seamer Saqib Mahmood as cover, with Dom Bess dropping out of squad
Wednesday 11 August 2021 16:05, UK
England bowler Stuart Broad will miss the second Test against India with a calf injury, while James Anderson is also a doubt for the match at Lord's.
The 35-year-old sat out Tuesday's net session with discomfort in his calf and has now been ruled out of the Test, which gets underway on Thursday - live on Sky Sports.
Broad misses the opportunity to make his 150th Test appearance and will undergo a scan on Wednesday.
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England also have concerns over Anderson, who is struggling with a tight quad.
The 39-year-old has not bowled in the nets for two days and is said to have a 50-50 chance of playing at Lord's.
England have not played a Test match without either Anderson and Broad since October 2016 but that is now a realistic prospect.
Lancashire seamer Saqib Mahmood, who impressed in England's recent one-day and T20 series wins over Pakistan, has been called up to the squad as cover, while Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood and Craig Overton provide other seam options for England captain Joe Root.
Mahmood is the second player to join up with the group in recent days after Moeen Ali was recalled to the Test squad for the first time in six months on Tuesday.
With Mahmood and Moeen in camp, England have opted to release spinner Dom Bess from the squad.
The spinner was not named in the playing XI for the first Test in Nottingham, which ended in a draw. He will now rejoin Yorkshire and could play in their Royal London Cup match at Glamorgan on Thursday.
England, India docked WTC points for slow over rates
England and India have been fined 40 per cent of their match fees and penalised two World Test Championship points each for maintaining slow over rates in the first Test in Nottingham.
Both sides had received four points each after the draw at Trent Bridge. However, these was later halved after both teams were ruled to be two overs short of their targets by match referee Chris Broad.
Both sets of players were also fined 40 per cent of their match fees - losing 20 per cent for each over their side failed to bowl in the allotted time.
Captains Joe Root and Virat Kohli both pleaded guilty and accepted the sanctions.
Earlier this year, Australia missed out on a place in the inaugural World Test Championship final after being docked points for a slow over rate in the Boxing Day Test against India.
Australia were penalised four points - a penalty which allowed New Zealand to finish narrowly above them in the final standings.
