England name 14-man squad for Pakistan T20Is

England have named their 14-man squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan. This series will mark their comeback in all the three formats after the pandemic-enforced break in March. England are also set to face Australia in three ODIs and as many T20Is which will conclude their summer. The Pakistan T20Is will be played on August 28, 30 and September 1 at the Old Trafford in Manchester.

The hosts are also playing the shortest format for the first time at home after May 2019 when they faced the Men in Green. As far as the squad is concerned, the likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer continue to rest. Three of them are the part of the Test series against Pakistan while Stokes is currently with his family and it is not yet known whether he will return to the bubble for the limited-overs series against Australia.

Meanwhile, David Willey has returned to the T20I squad as well after impressive performances against Ireland in the ODIs earlier this month. Dawid Malan is also set to don the England jersey after a decent break while Lewis Gregory and Chris Jordan are also part of the squad. Liam Livingstone, Reece Topley and Pat Brown are part of the reserves.

Liam Livingstone and Joe Denly are the two players to completely miss out from the ODI squad that faced Ireland in three matches. “In this crowded international summer, players who are currently in the Test match bio-secure bubble for the Pakistan Test series are not included in this squad. (The IT20s begin three days after the scheduled last day of the final Test).

“We want to give multi-format players some opportunity to rest and refresh, while still selecting strong squads for every series. We will announce the squad for the Australia T20 series at a later date,” National selector Ed Smith said in an official statement from ECB.

ECB also finalises coaching staff for the series

England’s assistant coach Graham Thorpe will take up the head coach role for the T20Is series while Paul Collingwood will support him. Marcus Trescothick and Jon Lewis are the batting and bowling coaches respectively with Azhar Mahmood helping the latter in his role.

England’s T20I squad for Pakistan T20Is: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey.

Reserves: Liam Livingstone, Reece Topley, Pat Brown.