• India series made up of five Tests in six weeks • Both senior bowlers are returning from injury

England have spoken to Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad about the likelihood of their being rotated against India at some stage, with the new‑ball pairing told not to take it personally should they be left out in order to navigate the packed schedule.

The Specsavers series with the world’s No 1 side gets under way on Wednesday at Edgbaston, with five matches squeezed into just over six weeks – a situation that could challenge Anderson and Broad given the two senior seamers in Joe Root’s attack are returning from respective shoulder and ankle problems.

Understandably the management of England’s seamers will remain fluid – the length of individual Tests and workloads are key – but Broad, who underwent an injection in his left ankle before turning out for Nottinghamshire recently, concedes a grown-up approach will be required should he or Anderson be withdrawn.

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Broad said: “There have already been small conversations saying: ‘Don’t be disheartened if you are left out for a Test match. It’s not a personal attack or dropping; it’s management of the bowlers to give ourselves the best chance.’

“It won’t get to the stage where I am left out, I’d go back and play county cricket. It’s ‘You’re missing out, a fresh bowler is coming in, you stay around [the squad], keeping talking, stay part of the unit’. So its only natural to expect small changes throughout five Tests but the bowlers have to be able to take it.”

A weekend of downpours in Birmingham forced England indoors for training on Sunday, with their 13-man squad fleshed out further by Chris Woakes and Dom Bess, who were both left out, also being present. The former, deemed in need of more time after injuries to his knee and quad, is progressing well and optimistic of a return during the series.

While the uncapped Jamie Porter and Sam Curran are vying for a place in the attack this week, the introduction of a fresh Woakes when others are flagging mid-series could yet prove a trump card for Root, not least against a batting line-up that Broad concedes may need to be dried up, rather than blasted out, should the heatwave return.

Despite a poor record in England from four years ago, there is little question that Virat Kohli will be the prized pelt among the tourists. Broad, however, does not buy into the Australian approach of “targeting” the opposition captain and, though he believes the right-hander’s classical style makes plans simpler compared to, say, a batsman such as Steve Smith, it will come down to a relentlessness from the entire attack.

Broad said: “You just have to out-patience a world-class batsman at both ends. I really don’t agree with the theory that one particular bowler can target a batsman. With a world‑class batsman you have to have that pressure and theatre at both ends. That’s when you get mistakes. If he’s able to watch Jimmy, play carefully but score off me, you’re taking away any advantage.

“As a bowling unit we will just have to make it as hard for all of their batsmen, but particularly a key player like Virat, to score early and try and create pressure that way. We won’t have a pitch like Headingley in June against Pakistan, it will be attritional – nutritional, as [former captain] Michael Vaughan would say – cricket where you hold for periods of time and try to speed the game up day three four and five.”

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The make-up of England’s final XI will hinge on conditions and in the indoor school on Sunday morning, where the sound of leather on willow echoed round the hall, Adil Rashid was sending down a red Dukes ball for the first time since the leg-spinner played for Yorkshire in the County Championship last September.

Though Rashid is now being kept away from the media after hitting back on the radio on Friday at some of the criticism surrounding his recall, it is clear he feels more relaxed and at home in the England set-up than in that of his county, for whom he has declined to play first-class cricket this summer.

When his head coach at Headingley, Andrew Gale, is “liking” posts on Twitter that reference Rashid’s decision to miss the title decider with Middlesex in 2016 – as was the case over the past few days when the former Yorkshire seamer Ryan Sidebottom questioned the 30-year-old’s England inclusion – it is hardly a surprise.