IND vs ENG: Ben Foakes likely to feature in first Test in Hyderabad

Despite being one of England’s finest keepers, Ben Foakes was considered to be a backup option for Jonny Bairstow for the majority part of his career. When the latter was out with a leg injury in 2022, Foakes proved his worth by hitting a century against South Africa in Manchester and also has half-centuries against Pakistan and New Zealand. Despite so, he couldn’t fit into England’s system and wasn’t considered for selection during Ashes 2023.

However, with Harry Brook set to miss the India series due to personal reasons, the 30-year-old is set to make his return to the national team. Flamboyant batter Bairstow will be playing as a specialized batter, which made room for Foakes in the playing XI. It is also a massive plus point for the Ben Stokes-led side as Foakes’ experience in wicketkeeping will come in handy in the spin-friendly conditions of India. 

Reflecting upon that, Stokes mentioned that the cricketer can do things that other keepers cannot. He called it to be ‘massive’ and called Foakes a ‘very special talent’.

“He can not only do things other keepers can't, but also make them look incredibly easy. He's a very special talent behind there and having someone like that who can maybe take a 2%, 3% chance, that could be massive in the series,” Stokes was quoted as saying by BBC.

Tom Hartley likely to make his Test debut

Stokes is extremely happy with Tom Hartley’s development in the last few weeks. The all-rounder mentioned that Hartley bowls at a difficult pace, which is tough for the batters to read, and following this, there are reports of him getting a shot in the first Test in Hyderabad. Shoaib Bashir is already ruled out of the match as Hartley is likely to partner alongside Jack Leach, with Joe Root being the third option. 

“Tom is someone who's very tall. He bowls at a very difficult pace to be able to handle out here. He's someone who gets a lot of natural variation which, in India, is sometimes the hardest thing to face where you've got two of the same ball, ball after ball, and one turns square and then one could skid on and pick up pace,” Stokes said.