England named a 17-member strong squad for the first two Test matches against India. The five-match series starts with the opening Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on August 4. Jofra Archer misses out as he is still recuperating from his elbow surgery and so does Chris Woakes, due to a bruised heel. The squad, led by Joe Root, has all the usual suspects with the old firm of James Anderson and Stuart Broad leading the seam bowling unit. Sam Curran and Mark Wood have been named in the squad along with Ollie Robinson, who returns to international duty after serving a suspension due to his old 'sexist and racist tweets'.
Opening batsman Haseeb Hameed of Nottinghamshire has also been included in the squad. This puts pressure on the likes of Dom Sibley and Rory Burns. Hameed played the last of his three Test matches for England at Mohali in 2016. He was one of the finds of that series, scoring 219 runs at an average of over 43. It's a great opportunity for the youngster to pull his career out of cold storage.
Johnny Bairstow and Jos Buttler have both been recalled after being rested for last month's series against New Zealand, which the hosts lost.
England Men’s Test Squad: Joe Root (Yorkshire) Captain, James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Dom Bess (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Mark Wood (Durham)
