- Tuesday, April 16, 2024
By: Sarwar Alam
England paceman Jofra Archer will miss the second Test against India in Chennai with an elbow injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Thursday.
Archer had an injection in his elbow after experiencing discomfort during the tourists’ 227-run win in the first Test at the same venue.
The 25-year-old, who did not take part in training on Thursday, previously had elbow problems during last winter’s tour of South Africa, though medical staff believe the issues are unrelated and expect the fast bowler to be fit for the third Test of the four-match series in Ahmedabad.
England must now choose a replacement for Archer in the team, with a recall for veteran Stuart Broad, who has 517 Test wickets, the most obvious move.
Broad had seemed likely to come in for record wicket-taker James Anderson regardless but captain Joe Root and head coach Chris Silverwood could now opt to play both of them rather than continue to rotate the duo.
This setback is the second to hit the England camp since they arrived in India after Zak Crawley slipped on a marble floor and damaged his wrist ahead of the first Test.
Crawley is set to miss out once again but the top-order batsman has made a return to the nets.
Meanwhile, India’s Axar Patel is available for selection after he was ruled out of the first Test with a left knee problem.
A Board of Control for Cricket in India statement said the spin-bowling all-rounder had been added to the main Test squad, with Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar now dropping into a group of standby players.
