Stuart Broad Pakistan: Why is Stuart Broad not playing 1st Test between Pakistan and England in Rawalpindi?

England put batting-friendly conditions on the first day of the first Test match against Pakistan at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium to good use to hit boundaries at a perpetual rate throughout the playing hours.

The possibility of 75 overs on Day 1 were enough for the visitors to put on record a record-breaking day. Having ended the day at 506/4, England became the first-ever team to cross the 500-run mark on the first day of a Test. Powered by as many as four centurions (all finishing with a strike rate of 95+), England smashed a 112-year old record around scoring most runs on Day 1 of a Test.

Notwithstanding the fact that number of runs scored by England today can’t be ignored by any means, the startling point for them on the day was a run rate of 6.74. With six wickets in hand and having already hit a grand total of 73 fours and three sixes, England have it in them to break more records especially with respect to the number of boundaries hit by a team in an innings.

Why is Stuart Broad not playing vs Pakistan?

England, who announced their Playing XI some 48 hours before the start of the match, had to make a lone change because of a virus which had forced players into sickness a day before the match. Only change made to the original Playing XI, wicket-keeper batter Ben Foakes missed this match due to the same reason.

In addition to handing batter Ollie Pope with an additional responsibility of keeping wickets (for the second time in 31 Tests), Foakes’ absence also brought a Test debut for Will Jacks.

With Liam Livingstone also debuting not only as a hard-hitting batter but as an archetype all-rounder, England’s specialist bowling trio comprises of pacers James Anderson and Ollie Robinson and spinner Jack Leach.

As far as veteran pacer Stuart Broad is concerned, he won’t be taking part in this series due to him not being part of this English squad. Broad, 36, isn’t part of the current Test squad as he’s on a paternity leave.

For the unversed, Broad and fiancee Mollie King were blessed with a daughter last month. The couple have named their firstborn Annabella Broad. Broad, who hasn’t played any form of cricket for over a couple of months now, has never played representative cricket in Pakistan.