The England Cricket Board (ECB) has recently released a statement where they have announced a 13-man squad from which the playing XI will be finalised for the second Test at Lord’s in the five-match Test series against India.
Cricket news: Moeen Ali, who did not play in the first Test, was included in the squad
The management has made some changes in the squad as they have included wicketkeeper-batsman Ollie Pope and all-rounder Chris Woakes. These players are going to replace left-handed batsman Dawid Malan and all-rounder Ben Stokes respectively.
Malan was not in a good form in the first Test, both in the batting department as well as in the fielding department.
He failed miserably with the bat and had dropped three catches in the match in the slip cordon, which included one of opposition skipper Virat Kohli, who later became a thorn in the bowling lineup of the Brits.
England’s Moeen Ali and Jamie Porter, who were released from the squad during the first Test as they were not playing in the Test, were also included in the squad.
Stokes is likely to miss the Test as he I ordered by the Bristol Crown Court on Monday for a hearing surrounding an affray in which he had got himself involved in the month of September last year.
Stokes will feature in the next game if the hearing of the Court gets adjourned on Monday itself.
The player from Canterbury played a very important part in the first match to give England victory as he picked up six wickets in the match which included an all-important wicket of Virat Kohli in the deciding innings of the game.
For Ollie Pope, the recent season has been phenomenal as he has racked up 684 runs from eight matches while playing for Surrey in the County Championship at an incredible average of 85.50.
He scored three centuries and also got a half-century which included a highest score innings of 158.
The 20-year-old player has also been in stupendous form in the T20 Blast as he scored 135 runs from the eight matches he has played.
Lord’s Test squad:
Joe Root(c), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, James Porter