In a Cricket announcement, the England team is set to visit India to play a five-match Test series, for the first time in more than 30 years, as part of their 2016 tour. Starting on November 9, with Rajkot as the first venue, the visiting team will also play three one-day, and three Twenty20 matches.
Eoin Morgan will return as Captain for the India assignment, despite missing the series victory against Bangladesh. Morgan and opening batsman Alex Hales had pulled out of the Bangladesh tour due to security fears, and the team saw a 2-1 victory under the leadership of Jos Buttler. England and Wales Cricket Board director Andrew Strauss said the Morgan and Hales' decision allowed other players to stake a claim for their spots, however, assistant coach Paul Farbrace revealed both will retain their positions.
He said, "There are a lot of good friends in this team which makes it easier for Morgs and Hales to come back in the side, and they will come back in Januar. Morgs will be captain in India." Before the Bangla series, Farbrace said he was "massively disappointed" with the pair opting out. "Of course you might be disappointed that people are not available, whether that's through injury or loss of form, or whatever it might be, you're always disappointed. But Morgs has very much been the driver behind this team moving forward."
"For the Test players to play seven Test matches on the bounce is going to be really physically and mentally tough for them," Farbrace said. The team will endure a major loss, as paceman Mark Wood will miss the tour to undergo an ankle surgery. The England and Wales Cricket Board said the 26 year old bowler will require a third operation on his left ankle within a year after it was discovered that he had fractured a bone during a County Championship match against Surrey last month. England's national physiotherapy lead Ben Langley said, "There's no reason to think that when he's had this bone fragment removed, he won't be able to get back to bowling as well as he has in the second half of the summer. His foot and ankle swelled up hugely during the game, which was obviously worrying, and then we were perplexed when nothing significant showed up on the first scan. It was only when we got him in for a second scan that we discovered he'd been playing on despite having fractured a bone."
Wood had previously been ruled out of England's ongoing tour of Bangladesh.
England tour of India Time Table
9-13 November: 1st Test, Rajkot
17-21 November: 2nd Test, Vishakapatnam
26-30 November: 3rd Test, Mohali
8-12 December: 4th Test, Mumbai
16-20 December: 5th Test, Chennai
15 January: 1st ODI, Pune
19 January: 2nd ODI, Cuttack
22 January: 3rd ODI, Kolkata
26 January: 1st T20, Kanpur
29 January: 2nd T20, Nagpur
1 February: 3rd T20, Bangalore
