England announce squad for first 2 Tests against India

On Thursday, England announced its 16-member squad for the first two Tests against India. Alongside, six reserves will travel with the squad.

England and India face each other in a four-match Test series starting from February 5. The first two Tests will take place at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Jofra Archer, Rory Burns, and Ben Stokes will return to the England squad for the first two Tests. Burns missed the Sri Lanka tour due to the birth of his first child, while Archer and Stokes were rested.

16 players 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿6 travelling reserves 🏏All the details here 👇

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 21, 2021

In line with the selectors' policy to rest players who play all formats, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Curran and Mark Wood will not play the first two Tests. The England trio will head home after the Sri Lanka tour concludes.

Ollie Pope will travel to India and get added to the squad if he passes the fitness test. The 23-year-old is currently with the team in Sri Lanka, as he recovers from a dislocated shoulder he suffered last summer.

Moeen Ali makes the squad too despite not playing the Tests against Sri Lanka, as he recovers from COVID-19.

England Men’s Test Squad

Joe Root (c), Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

Reserves

James Bracey, Mason Crane, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Robinson, Amar Virdi

TEAM - Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya (VC), KL Rahul, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 19, 2021