England have announced their playing XI for the first Test against India at Headingley, starting June 20. There are no surprises as the Ben Stokes-led side has backed three pacers in Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue, while Shoaib Bashir has been named the sole spinner. Among batters, Zak Crawley will open the batting alongside Ben Duckett, followed by Ollie Pope and Joe Root. Harry Brook, Stokes and Jamie Smith will fill the fifth, sixth and seventh spots.
The only talking point from the squad announcement was the exclusion of Jacob Bethell. The 21-year-old made his Test debut against New Zealand late last year and scored three back-to-back half-centuries. Since then, Bethell was touted as the next big thing alongside Brook and Smith, but the cricketer has failed to retain his spot in the Test squad.
Bethell scored 260 runs in six innings at an average of 52 in the New Zealand series. However, he wasn’t considered for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe and will now warm the bench in the first Test against India. Apart from Bethell, Sam Cook and Jamie Overton have been benched for the Headingley Test.
Four England players will play against India for first time
Four England cricketers - Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue will play against India for the first time. Brook was supposed to feature in the five-match series that happened in India last year, but due to a family emergency, he opted out.
On the other hand, Gus Atkinson was ruled out of the match, citing right hamstring strain. It needs to be seen if the pacer recovers in time and returns to the playing XI in the remainder of the series.
England playing XI - Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
Also Read: