India in England: Injured Stuart Broad may Play Oval Test with Face Mask

Stuart Broad posted this image of his injured nose on his social media account. (Image courtesy: @StuartBroad8)

England speedster Stuart Broad may play the fifth final Test against India with a face mask. This after the bowler was hit by a Varun Aaron bouncer during the fourth Test at Manchester, leaving him with a fractured nose. (Complete coverage of England vs India series)

Broad suffered a painful blow when he failed to hit an Aaron deliver on the third day of the third Test. The ball got lodged between the peak of his helmet and the grille and he had to walk off immediately.

While England eventually managed to win by an innings and 54 runs and take a 2-1 lead in the series, Broad tweeted the adjoining image on Sunday and wrote that he was ready to play despite his injury. "Little bit sore this morning but not too bad! Doc did a great job with the stitches. On to The Oval! (With a mask)," he said on the micro-blogging website.

Broad has been superb with the ball against India in the ongoing series. His 16 wickets so far has made him the fourth best bowler in the series after teammates James Anderson (21), Moeen Ali (19) and India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar (18). At Manchester, the 28-year-old claimed six wickets in the first innings.

The bowler however would get a chance despite his injury as England announced an unchanged 13-member squad for the Test at The Oval starting August 15.