Rib injury to keep Stuart Broad out of entire IPL

Stuart Broad has been ruled out of this season's IPL in order to continue his rehabilitation from injury. Broad, who is contracted to Kings XI Punjab, sustained an injury to his right calf during England's recent tour of Sri Lanka. Broad also missed the 2011 IPL season after sustaining a rib injury.

Arvinder Singh, chief operating officer of Kings XI Punjab, said the franchise were "sorely disappointed over Broad's absence but will soon finalise a suitable replacement".

Broad's aim now is to return to cricket with Nottinghamshire in early May. He will train at Trent Bridge and receive regular assessments from the ECB's medical staff. It is, at present, anticipated that he will return to duty in the County Championship against Middlesex at Trent Bridge May 9. Broad is also contracted to Kings XI Punjab for the 2013 season, subject to England commitments.

Under the terms of Broad's central contract with the ECB, he had originally been due to return to from IPL duty on May 5. Any England centrally contracted player appearing in the IPL - including Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan - is monitored by the ECB's medical staff who keep in touch with the franchises to oversee the treatment of niggles and adherence to any predefined programmes.

The workload of Broad is beginning to concern the England team management. Broad, 25, is a member of the England squad in all three formats of the game and has suffered a series of injuries over the last 18 months. A stomach muscle strain ruled him out of three Ashes Tests in Australia before a rib injury curtailed his World Cup campaign. Towards the end of the English season he then damaged his shoulder and missed the end of the India home series and Twenty20 matches against West Indies, plus the return contest in India during October which meant Graeme Swann was required as a stand-in T20 captain.

The ECB have also announced the availability of the rest of the squad that toured Sri Lanka. While some players, such as Monty Panesar, Ravi Bopara, Steve Davies and James Tredwell will be available for this week's round of championship games, others - such as James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Alastair Cook - will be rested until the start of May.