The Ben Stokes-led England side have name Mark Wood as the only pacer in the playing XI for the first Test against India.
Hyderabad: England have gone with a spin-heavy bowling attack against India in the first Test that starts on Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Considering the spin-friendly pitches in this part of the world, the Ben Stokes-led side named Mark Wood as the only seamer in the playing XI. Out of the four spinners, Tom Hartley is set to make his Test debut for England.
Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed and Jack Leach, who were not a part of England’s last Test match against Australia at The Oval, have been included in the playing XI. With Wood being the only fast bowler in the side, veteran pacer and England’s recrd wicket-taker James Anderson will have to sit out.
Other than the four specialist spinners named, Joe Root will also offer some off-breaks that have yielded results previously. Ben Foakes will keep wickets while experienced wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow specializing in batting at No.5.
Foakes was the first-choice England wicketkeeper when Brendon McCullum took charge of the English Test side initially before being replaced by Bairstow in the Ashes series last year. On the other hand, Hartley has a job to do along with the likes of Leach and Ahmed.
Playing for Lancashire, Hartley has 20 first-class games to his name and took 40 wickets. He can also add depth with his batting and has a best of 73 not out down the order. Meanwhile, England will be missing the services of Shoaib Bashir, who was forced to return home from Abu Dhabi due to visa issues, leaving captain Stokes visibly frustrated.
Bashir, who plays for Somerset, was a surprise inclusion in the side considering India’s turning tracks, but is yet to get an Indian visa while his other teammates got it. Notably, Bashir’s family is of Pakistani origin and that might have played a big role in the Government of India delaying his visa.
However, as per reports in several media outlets, he is likely to get an approval from the Indian High Commission in London soon. “Yeah, so he’s back in London now. So, hopefully, we’re going to see him back in India over the weekend. The feelings we have towards it (the visa episode) hasn’t changed. It’s obviously a frustrating situation,” Stokes said in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach.