England will play a five-match Test series at home against India. The first Test of the series is set to begin on August 4 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Virat Kohli’s and Joe Root’s team will then face each other in the second Test at Lord’s on August 12. A 17-man squad has been announced by the England Cricket Board (ECB) for the first two Tests.
Nottingham’s opening batsman, Haseeb Hameed has got a chance in the team. He is currently playing a warm-up match for the County XI against India. Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, and Sam Curran have also returned to the Test squad.
Ben Stokes returned to domestic cricket after recovering from an injury. He was later hastily selected to lead England’s second-tier ODI team against Pakistan. However, he did not get a place in the T20 squad against Pakistan. This time the star all-rounder has made a comeback to the Test squad.
Controversial cricketer Ollie Robinson has returned to the team. He made his debut in the first Test against New Zealand. But he was dropped from the second Test due to a racist tweet he made eight years ago. He was temporarily exiled. However, Robinson has returned to the team by paying a big fine.
On the other hand, Jofra Archer did not get a chance in the team in the first two Tests. Archer has not yet recovered from elbow surgery. He is believed to get dropped out of the series against India. Injury issues have also forced Chris Woakes to stay out from the series.
However, England had a debacle in the last 4-match Test series (1-3) against India which was played in India. This time, the game is on their soil and they might look forward to pulling off something better.
England’s first two Test squad against India：
Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Rory Burns, Jack Leach, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Dom Bess, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, and Mark Wood
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