England, India hit by injury ahead of second Test

England look set to have to line up in a home Test without James Anderson or Stuart Broad for the first time in over nine years after a damaging double injury blow to their spearhead pacemen.

Broad has been ruled out of the rest of the five-match series against India after pulling up injured in a warm-up session ahead of Thursday's second Test, which would have been his 150th appearance.

An MRI scan in London on Wednesday revealed a tear to Broad's right calf, ending the 35-year-old Nottinghamshire seamer's involvement in the rest of England's summer schedule.

That setback was compounded when 39-year-old Anderson complained of a tight quad on the eve of the match and it is highly unlikely that any risks will be taken with his longer-term fitness.

All of which means Joe Root is likely to be without the two most prolific wicket-takers in England's Test history, who boast 312 caps between them as well as 621 and 524 scalps respectively. 

Ollie Robinson will move up the pecking order to take new-ball duties, with Mark Wood recalled and Craig Overton vying with Saqib Mahmood for the remaining spot.

Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes and Olly Stone are also sidelined by injury.

With Moeen Ali also set to return as a spin-bowling allrounder, Ollie Pope fit again after thigh trouble and Haseeb Hameed in contention for a top-order recall, head coach Chris Silverwood is pondering a raft of changes from the side that drew a rain-affected first Test at Trent Bridge last week.

But while any changes to the top seven would be voluntarily and made with a view to strengthening the batting line-up, there is no doubt that both champion seamers going down at the same time is a serious setback.

The last time both Anderson and Broad were missing from an England XI was in Bangladesh in October 2016, but for a home Test the search goes all the way back to June 2012.

Root was still six months away from his England debut at that stage and the only member of the current squad who lined up in that match was Jonny Bairstow, then a youngster and now a senior man in home dressing room.

"It would be a big loss, naturally, because they've got over a thousand Test wickets between them," said Bairstow, who nevertheless attempted to downplay the setbacks to the camp.

"I don't think it's too much of a destabiliser to be honest. I think with the nature of professional sport there is going to be injuries at times, there is going to be illness, it can happen overnight and you've got to be adaptable within the group."

Meanwhile, India must find a replacement for seam bowler Shardul Thakur after he was ruled out of the Test with a hamstring strain.

Skipper Virat Kohli sprung something of a surprise in Nottingham when he left spinner Ravichandran Ashwin out of his XI, but spoke after the match about his satisfaction with the balance of the side in English conditions.

Whether Thakur's injury forces a rethink and offers Ashwin a lifeline remains to be seen, but the vastly experienced paceman Ishant Sharma may have a better chance.

"For us it's about finding that perfect balance, but if someone like Shardul is not available we will definitely think first about how we pick up 20 wickets, not plug in another guy who can give us some runs with the bat," said Kohli.

"We feel very comfortable with how the first Test went. You can apply pressure throughout the day (with four seamers) and we are not going to under-bowl anyone. We like that kind of template when we are looking to create pressure in the innings."

England XI (possible): Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley/Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Jimmy Anderson/Craig Overton/Saqib Mahmood

India XI (possible): Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin/Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj