England vs India 2014 - 5th Test: MS Dhoni and Stuart Broad miss practice, Ishant Sharma set to return

Ishant Sharma put in a man-of-the-match performance at Lord’s

Indian captain MS Dhoni and England fast bowler Stuart Broad both missed their teams’ respective training sessions, in preparation for the 5th Test at The Oval, on Wednesday.

Broad, who was hit on the nose by a short delivery from Varun Aaron during the 4th Test at Old Trafford in Manchester, was present at the ground but didn’t take part in practice.

Dhoni, meanwhile, was totally absent from India’s practice session, fuelling speculation as to whether he is carrying some sort of an injury. However, those rumours were laid to rest by the Indian team management, who categorically stated that Dhoni was resting. It later turned out that Dhoni had actually decided to skip practice and attend a shooting session at a firing range.

Ishant Sharma set to return from injury

The good news from India’s perspective is that Ishant Sharma, who was man-of-the-match at Lord’s but had to miss the previous two Tests due to an ankle injury, looks all set to return for the 5th and final Test, probably in place of Pankaj Singh, after having bowled at full tilt in the nets on Wednesday.

As far as England are concerned, the chances of Broad being included in the playing XI for the 5th Test appear 50-50 at the moment, with the England team management unlikely to take too much of a risk with one of their premier fast bowlers. Broad, however, is intent on taking the field at The Oval and has already suggested that he might do so with a face mask on.

"It's not very pretty. He's not got his 'boy-band' looks you'd normally associate with Stuart," England batsman Joe Root, when asked about the 28-year-old’s injury, said.

"He's milking it definitely...as you'll probably have seen on all the social network sites. But I'm sure he'll be desperate to play on Friday. He's obviously in good form...and will be wanting to finish the series strongly with the rest of us," he added.

England seemed to be at an all-time low after the 2nd Test Lord’s when India won their first match at the holy ground in 28 years to give them a 1-0 series lead in the 5-match series, but England have come roaring back with two comprehensive back-to-back victories to give England the advantage going into the 5th Test.

Jadeja-Anderson spat spurred England

Root said that one of the reasons for their resurgence was the incident involving James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja, which led to India pushing for a ban for Anderson, explaining that the incident spurred the entire team to get back at the Indians.

"That may be one way where we did get slightly more tight. It gave us another incentive to want to throw a punch back at them. The good thing that came from that was that we didn't let it affect us," the 23-year old said.

However, the Yorkshireman cautioned against complacency, knowing fully well that India have the ability to bounce back in case England are off their guard.

"I don't think we can really rest on the fact we've played well in the last couple of games. We will really try to nail down what has been a good little bit of form in the last two games. We're definitely not going to take India lightly," he concluded.