England coach Andy Flower has backed beleaguered fast bowler Stuart Broad, despite the pacer being dropped by England for the first time in three years for the final ODI against Sri Lanka. Flower feels that the pacer will bounce back strongly and has also indicated that the 25-year-old remained integral to his plans for the upcoming Test series against India.
Having picked up just two wickets in the preceding four one-dayers in which he looked horribly out of sorts and was troubled by a heel injury, Broad was the man to get the chop when a spin-friendly wicket was provided for the final clash at Old Trafford and England decided to go with two spinners.
"He was left out of the side because we wanted to bring a spinner (Samit Patel) in, and we thought (Jade) Dernbach would be more effective in those conditions," explained Flower.
The Zimbabwean added that after a brief rest he expected Broad would be firing at all cylinders ahead of the Test series with India.
"A nice by-product of him (Broad) missing the game is that he will have a four-day break from bowling between the fourth ODI and the four-day game he will play for Nottinghamshire, starting on Monday," said Flower.
"After that, he can have another four-day break to rest those niggles, and then get into training for the Test match at Lord's.
"Broad has been a superb performer for us, a great competitor, and I foresee him doing great things for us in the future, both in this upcoming Test series and the one-day series."
There has been some speculation that Tim Bresnan may replace Broad in England's side for the first Test although Flower is backing his man – for now at least.
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