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The Ashes | Stuart Broad's limited role in the Ashes surprises Steve Smith

As Stuart Broad did not feature in the first and third Test match of the ongoing Ashes, fans and cricket pundits were left to ponder about England's selection decision. Suffering a brutal thrashing at the hands of the Aussies, England have already lost this year's Ashes with still two matches to spare.


Their dismal show started from December 8 itself, when they first stepped onto the field for the much-awaited series. Losing to Australia convincingly, England were forced to bring back the duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad for the second red-ball game. Although the result did not change, the senior pros shared five wickets within themselves in the Test match.


Broad fared decently and gathered two wickets only to warm the bench in the Boxing-Day Test. Expressing his disappointment at missing out on the chance of playing on the "best wobble-seam" pitches in Australia, Broad wrote about his side's poor performance so far in the series.


"As a wobble-seam bowler, I feel as though I missed out on two of the best wobble-seam pitches in Australia. Only playing once has made this a very disappointing trip, one that has not met my personal expectations," Broad wrote on Daily Mail.


"The biggest frustration is losing the Ashes, being 3-0 down and feeling like I've not really done anything. Not being able, as an experienced player, to influence a series where live is tough.


Not only Broad, but Australia's Steve Smith was also visibly surprised over the exclusion of England's premier pacer from the playing XI in two of most lively pitches for the fast-bowlers. Broad has certainly played a limited-role in the Ashes 2021-22 and for England to take something positive out of the tour, they would want him to step up.


“We have been a bit surprised. Two wickets that would have suited him pretty well. Bowled well in Adelaide. He's always been a good contest for me. He's got me out quite a few times, I've scored some runs off him so it's been a decent battle," Smith spoke ahead of the fourth Test match.


"They’ve got quality bowlers. Him and Jimmy together are two world class performers, they have been for a long time. Maybe we’ll see them out here together this week, I’m not sure." he added.


Broad's mysterious omission from the XI only increases confusion as Joe Root admitted about the seam-friendly nature of the tracks in Australia this year. However, the English captain is doubtful that the pitches for the coming Tests will offer the same kind of assistance to the pacers.


"You never know until you play on it. (We) have to adapt to what is in front of you," Root was quoted as saying to the reporters.

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SA vs IND | 2nd Test, Day 1: Duanne Olivier rattles India as Pujara, Rahane continue to disappoint

A brilliant comeback after a poor and ineffective first spell of bowling from Duanne Olivier pushed India on backfoot in the first session of the second Test against South Africa. Olivier was trusted to partner Kagiso Rabada with the new ball over Lungi Ngidi, who had taken a five-wicket haul in the last Test, but he looked short of rhythm and offered half volleys to Mayank Agarwal. The right-hander was up to the task and hit him for two boundaries to get India off to a confident start. The duo carried on with their usual patterns from the last game. KL Rahul was more defensive of the two but he received the most number of good balls from the Proteas pace bowling attack. He was particularly troubled by Lungi Ngidi, who bowled the best among the pacers in the first half of the first session. The first success though came to Marco Jansen, who got one to angle across Mayank Agarwal right after the drinks break and the right-hander could not resist the temptation to drive the ball. On the other hand, Rahul was going strong as ever while Cheteshwar Pujara was battling the pace attack on a surface offering spongy bounce and a lot of demons in his mind. He was defensive as ever and never tried to put South Africa pacers under pressure even when they offered him short and wide deliveries. Olivier was brought back into the attack just before the lunch break and he was all warmed up for the role of enforcer after a poor start. He first extracted the extra bounce he has been known for to take the splice of Pujara’s bat and Temba Bavuma took an easy opportunity. Virat Kohli’s absence pushed Ajinkya Rahane to the top order and a lot was expected of him at the number four slot. However, continuing the trend of his career over the last few years, he failed to make good use of his fluency and form from the first Test and played a nervous poke way outside off stump to give catching practice to Keegan Petersen. All the hard work of KL Rahul and positive intent from Mayank Agarwal was squandered in a span of two deliveries by Olivier and India will have to bat really well in the remaining two sessions of the day to post a fighting total on the board.