London: Spinner Graeme Swann is likely to stay on as England`s Twenty20 skipper since regular captain Stuart Broad has been advised two months` rest to recover from the shoulder injury he sustained during a One-Day International against India at Lord`s last month.
Broad thought he might make the grade in time for the Twenty20 match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata slated for October 29, but he learnt Friday that it was unlikely he would play cricket again before 2012.
Broad will not captain England again until the end of February when they play three Twenty20 matches against Pakistan in Dubai. By then Swann will have led England three times in Twenty20 cricket, one more match than Broad has managed since he was appointed full-time in May.
"The shoulder is still quite sore. It`s a two-month injury so I`m concentrating on making sure I am in the best possible shape for the games against Pakistan in January. It`s not 100 per cent confirmed I`ll not play in India, but I`ll only play if the rehab goes fantastically well," Broad was quoted as saying by media.
Broad was apprehensive that he would need a surgery but intensive physiotherapy has helped him to avoid going under the knife.
"It`s good news that I don`t need surgery," added Broad. "There is always an extra risk with surgery so that would be a worry. It is a two-month recovery time, though, so I need to get that right and make sure it is completely over and I don`t have any side-effects with it," he said.
IANS
First Published: Saturday, September 24, 2011, 18:17