Battle-hardened Broad finds a way

The last time Stuart Broad played a Test series in India back in 2012 he received a verbal blast from David Saker, the Australian who was then England's bowling coach.

Saker, after witnessing Broad's ineffective displays in the first two Tests, during which he had conceded 157 runs in 36 wicketless overs, said: "He needs to front up and find out what's the best way to go about it over here.

"He has to find ways to survive in India. The great fast bowlers have had success here. You can't just think that the fast bowlers won't have much influence. A defeatist attitude like that is pretty much not accepted."

Broad was dropped for England's third Test in Kolkata and was then sent home with an injury to his left foot, which although it hampered him was no excuse for his performances, according to Saker.

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Four years on and Broad has yet another injury, straining a tendon at the front of his right foot.

Perhaps fired by memories of his last trip here, he has bowled through the pain barrier and been rewarded with his best figures in India.

After two wickets on the third evening in Visakhapatnam, Broad dismissed Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin early on day four to return 4-33 from 14 overs that must have tested his spirit as well as his body.

As Saker noted, seam bowlers have a tough life on the subcontinent but Broad, whose participation in next week's third Test is now in doubt, showed the requisite attitude to front up and do a job for his team when they needed him the most.

It might not have been a match-winning performance as he has produced so often in the past, especially in Ashes contests.

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But it was impressive nonetheless, especially when you take into account before India's second innings here he had taken just 4-446 in his four previous Tests in the country.

"It's been a pretty sore Test," Broad said. "I think in my second over I dived for the ball and my toe slipped the wrong way and I've done some damage to my tendon. If you do that in the second over of a Test, you've only got one option and that's to keep playing or you stuff the team.

"It has been physically quite a tough Test but it is part the job – you have to crack on.

"The problem is with my tendon in between the first and second toe. It feels like I'm constantly stepping on a plug every time I plant my foot. It's extremely painful to play on.

"I need to find out a bit more detail on the injury before I can think about the next Test. It will be a case of resting it as much as possible and letting the bleeding go down."

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Broad has revealed he will wear a protective boot in order to ensure he is at least fit for the fourth Test in Mumbai starting on December 8.

"There are plans to get a moon boot on at the end of this game to try to off-load the tendon for a few days," he said.

"We've 17 days before Mumbai, which is quite a long time. It's slightly less for Mohali. I'll try to get fit for the next one but hopefully I'll definitely be fit for Mumbai.

"It's annoying to miss any Test. I don't know that I will miss it yet. Mohali is one of the better places to bowl seam from memory in India, so it would be a bit of a pain in the foot (to miss it)."

The lazy assumption with Broad is often to paint him as a bowler who only really does the business in home conditions.

After all, 11 of his 15 five-wicket hauls have come in England, where he has taken 232 of his 366 Test wickets at 26.54.

Away from home, he has 134 wickets at 31.82.

Yes, it's lower, significantly lower in fact, than his return in England but it's still pretty good.

In Australia, where Broad has already stated he is thirsting to return next year for the Ashes, his record shows 23 wickets taken at 32.13. At home against Australia, he has 61 at 26.01.

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Yet his performance here in this match is another sign that Broad is learning more about his own game and himself as a person the more he plays.

That may be true of all cricketers but at the age of 30, he is still in his peak years as an international bowler and if he continue improving – with injuries kept to a minimum – he promises to be a real handful for Australia in next year's Ashes.

Broad loves the gladiatorial combat of an Ashes scrap and he revelled in his pantomime villain status on the 2013-14 tour, where he took 21 wickets at 27.52.

The T-shirts worn by Australian fans in their thousands back bore the legend 'Stuart Broad is a s*** bloke' after his refusal to walk in the Ashes Test at Trent Bridge earlier that year.

But after his brave efforts in Visakhapatnam, England would not have had a bad word to say about him – a far cry from the last tour here four years ago.

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