England Retains Pope, Drops Bethell for First Test vs India

England squad update
Written by: OCBG Editorial Team
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Updated

The first game of the five-match clash between the India and England cricket teams will be played on Friday, June 20. The Three Lions have announced their roster for this match, which will be played at Headingley Stadium, Leeds. After that, the teams will meet four more times in Birmingham, Manchester, and London (twice).

Bethell’s Exclusion 

England has decided to retain vice-captain Ollie Pope in the top order, despite some concerns about his performance. It is not particularly impressive against top teams like India and Australia, averaging just 22.05 in 18 Tests, which is well below his career average of 35.49. 

Jacob Bethell, 21, was in contention for a spot after impressing with three half-centuries in three Tests against New Zealand last year. The cricketer also scored 82 in an ODI against the West Indies and has a solid average of 52 from his limited Test appearances. Alas, he missed the Zimbabwe Test due to IPL commitments with the RCB. Although Ben Stokes initially suggested Bethell’s return, he later clarified that his comments were misinterpreted. According to Alastair Cook, Bethell’s decision to play in the IPL has not helped his case. 

Thus, the English roster included: 

  • Shoaib Bashir;
  • Harry Brook;
  • Brydon Carse;
  • Zak Crawley;
  • Ben Duckett;
  • Ollie Pope;
  • Joe Root;
  • Jamie Smith;
  • Ben Stokes;
  • Josh Tongue;
  • Chris Woakes

India Roster 

Earlier, Men in Blue, who were expecting head coach Gautam Gambhir to fly to England (he had to fly to India for family reasons), released their roster for the entire Test series. Karun Nair, for whom this is the first call-up to the Test squad in eight years, has been included in it: 

  • Jasprit Bumrah;
  • Akash Deep;
  • Abhimanyu Easwaran;
  • Shubman Gill;
  • Ravindra Jadeja;
  • Yashasvi Jaiswal;
  • Dhruv Jurel;
  • Prasidh Krishna;
  • Karun Nair;
  • KL Rahul;
  • Rishabh Pant;
  • Harshit Rana;
  • Nitish Kumar Reddy;
  • Arshdeep Singh;
  • Mohammed Siraj;
  • Sai Sudharsan;
  • Washington Sundar;
  • Shardul Thakur;
  • Kuldeep Yadav.