A couple of days before the first Test of the five-match series between India and England, Stuart Broad raised questions about the Ben Stokes-led team’s inexperienced bowling attack.On the opening day of the Test match, the England attack lacked bite. They were all over the place with their lengths, and hardly any phase saw them creating sustained pressure on the Indian batters. India finished Day 1 on 350 for 3, with excellent centuries from captain Shubman Gill (127* not out) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (101).Broad, who took 604 Test wickets during his career, including 74 against India, had expressed concerns that England’s attack could struggle against India’s talented batting unit.“Looking at England with the injuries they’ve got at the moment — where are they getting 20 wickets?” Broad told The Times.“Chris Woakes will probably have the new ball. I love Woakesy, but I am worried about the number of overs he’s bowled this summer — not enough. He’s someone who needs overs under his belt to get his rhythm. He’s not like Mark Wood, who can hit the ground running straight away after a layoff — Woakes needs to get going and find his rhythm.”Broad had also predicted how an error in length might cost England at Headingley.“Headingley has a lightning-quick outfield — if you make any mistakes in your length, the batsman just whizzes away,” Broad said.“If there are clouds, it can swing around, but if you get it wrong there, you disappear at a rate of knots. We’ve got an inexperienced young spinner too [Shoaib Bashir], so there are a lot of unknowns. It spins at Headingley, so there is no chance they don’t pick their specialist spinner.”
England fast-bowling consultant Tim Southee defended skipper Ben Stokes’ decision to bowl first on a dry Headingley wicket.Stokes’ decision came in for sharp criticism from former captain Michael Vaughan, who said he didn’t find any logic in the move.“With the colour of the wicket yesterday, and a little bit of moisture left in it, if there was going to be a little bit of help, it was probably going to be this morning. That was the thinking behind the decision,” Southee said in the post-stumps press conference.“You look at the surface and make the decision on what you think will give you the best chance. Not all the time do you get it right.”
