Ian Bell picks his England T20I and Test XIIs if matches take places on the same day

Ian Bell, the former England batsman, has picked his England 12-man squads for Tests and T20I cricket in case both the teams have to play matches on the same day. The discussion has come to the fore especially after how the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc globally in the last couple of months. Cricket in England has also been affected to quite a large extent.

Even as Joe Root will be leading the Test side, Eoin Morgan will be in charge of the shorter format. Bell picked both experienced wicketkeeper, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow – in the T20I team. As the keeper in Tests, he had the talented Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes, who hasn’t played a whole lot of international cricket. Bell went for the Curran brothers – Sam and Tom – in the T20Is.

Jofra Archer in Ian Bell’s T20I XII

Jofra Archer has impressed across formats over the last few months. While he bowled the Super Over in the final of the 2019 World Cup, he was also one of England’s key bowlers in the Ashes last year. The Barbados-born found a way into the T20I side. The experienced duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad continues to lead the Three Lions’ pace attack.

Along with the Currans and Archer, Chris Jordan is the other speedster in the T20I lineup. Bell didn’t forget to include Tom Banton, who has come up the ranks, especially after the 2019 edition of the T20 Blast, representing Somerset. Moeen Ali was included in the T20I team. The southpaw has somewhat strained in the longer format in the last 24 months or so.

Jason Roy and Bairstow are the openers in the T20Is. Adil Rashid and Jack Leach are the specialist spinners in the T20I and Test sides respectively. Chris Woakes and Reece Topley are the 12th man as per ESPNcricinfo.

Here is the Test XI

Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, Ben Foakes, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson, Chris Woakes

Here is the T20I XI

Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Tom Banton, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley