England keep fingers crossed on Broad

England badly need Broad to be fit for Mumbai to avoid an Indian rout. Broad was badly missed in the third Test defeat in Mohali with the foot injury he sustained in Visakhapatnam as Jimmy Anderson and Chris Woakes had disappointing outings in conditions as good as anywhere in India for seamers. 

Now England fear that the injury will not ease sufficiently to allow Broad to take his place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where they enjoyed a famous victory four years ago. ‘I’m not 100 per cent confident,’ said coach Trevor Bayliss when asked before the players embarked on their Dubai tour. “We’ll leave a decision as late as possible.” Broad was one of the group of England players who decided to head for Dubai after an unprecedented move by Bayliss to allow his side to leave 

the country mid-tour but the coach had Broad’s fitness on his mind. 

“Stuart is out of his moon boot but we won’t know if he’s got a chance until he comes back for the practice days ahead of the Test,” added Bayliss. Woakes is also recovering from a cracked thumb but is expected to be fit in time for Thursday’s Test. Zafar Ansari has been forced to quit the tour with a back problem and Gary Ballance is another nursing a finger injury. One man who remains fighting fit is the almost super-human Ben Stokes.