ECB announces the 13-man squad for the first Test match against India

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced the 13-man squad for the first of the five-match Test series against India. As expected, Adil Rashid has made his comeback to the side following his exploits in the limited-overs leg of the tour. He last played for England in Tests back in December 2016 during their India tour. However, Jamie Porter has also earned his maiden call-up to the squad after his impressive performances in the domestic cricket in the past few seasons.

Moeen Ali has also made his way back into the squad after being dropped for the Test series against Pakistan. He had troubled the visitors during their last visit to England in 2014. Interestingly, Dominic Bess has been dropped despite performing decently in the last series while Keaton Jennings will be Alastair Cook‘s partner at the top of the order. Joe Root is set to bat at number 3 as he will look to lead from the front.

Woakes needs more time

The selection panel confirmed that the all-rounder Chris Woakes needed more time to regain full form as he has recovered from his recent knee and thigh injury.

“The selection panel felt that Chris Woakes needed a little more time to regain full form. We are keen to avoid rushing him back from injury too soon. Chris will combine playing for Warwickshire in T20s alongside building up red ball fitness and workload with the England coaches,” the National selector Ed Smith said according to the official website of ECB.

Dom Bess and Jack Leach both will train with the squad in full tilt despite not being the part of the 13-man squad. Smith felt that the latter was unlucky not to be picked due to several injuries and cleared that it was too early for him to play in a Test. He also went on to say that fewer opportunities for Bess in the County Championship led to his non-selection despite performing well in his debut series against Pakistan.

England squad for the first Test:

Joe Root (c), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jamie Porter

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