England Announce 16-Member Squad for Opening Two Test Matches Against India; Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes Make Return
Bairstow, Wood and Curran were also rested for the second Test against Sri Lanka and are to set head home. Moeen Ali, who had been ruled out from both the Tests against Sri Lanka due to positive COVID-19 test, was included in the squad as was Ollie Pope, who is still recovering from a dislocated shoulder, will be added to the squad once he is fit.
Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes made return as England named a 16-member squad for the opening two Test matches against India. Stokes and Archer had been rested for the Sri Lanka Test series and will make return against India while Mark Wood, Sam Curran and Jonny Bairstow have been rested. Opening batsman Joe Burns, who had taken a paternity leave ahead of the Sri Lanka Test series, was also named in the 16-man squad. England’s tour of India will begin on February 5 with the four-Test series, the first two of which will be played in Chennai. India Squad for First Two England Tests Announced: Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya Set To Return, Prithvi Shaw Axed.
Bairstow, Wood and Curran were also rested for the second Test against Sri Lanka and are to set head home. Moeen Ali, who had been ruled out from both the Tests against Sri Lanka due to positive COVID-19 test, was included in the squad for India as was Ollie Pope, who is still recovering from a dislocated shoulder. Pope will travel to India and will be added to the squad once he is fit.
England Announce Squad for First Two Test Matches
England have also named six reserve players in the touring team apart from the 16-man squad. The players will be with the team and will act as cover in cases of illness or injury. All six players are also with the England team in Sri Lanka. The England cricket team will fly to India immediately after the conclusion of the second Test in Sri Lanka.
England Squad: Joe Root, Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
Reserves: James Bracey, Mason Crane, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Robinson, Amar Virdi.
England are set to play a full-fledged bilateral series against India, which involve four Tests, five T20Is and three ODI matches. The first two Test matches will be played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai before the series moves to Ahmedabad where both teams will clash in a day-night pink-ball Test at the recently renovated Sardar Vallabhai Patel stadium. Ahmedabad will also play hosts for the fourth Test as well as the five-match T20I series while the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium will host the ODI series.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 21, 2021 08:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).