Pope named as England's No. 3 for the first Test match against India
Pope named as England's No. 3 for the first Test match against India
England vs India: Ollie Pope has won the race to be No.3 for England in the first Test against India as the hosts announced their playing XI for the match at Headingley. Woakes makes a return to the Test team for the first time since December.
Instead of Jacob Bethell, now Ollie Pope will be batting at No. 3 for the test series, England Vs India starting from Friday.
Pope took a step back as vice-captain because of his poor run performance from last year. Moreover, Bethell's unexpected performance in New Zealand raised questions about the No. 3 batting position. However, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum decided to keep Pope in the lineup, choosing not to bring in England's promising young talent.
Bethell got his chance to bat at No. 3 because Jamie Smith was on paternity leave and Jordan Cox had a thumb injury, which meant Pope had to step in as England's wicketkeeper. He performed well, scoring three half-centuries in his first three Tests, including a second-innings score of 96 in Wellington, while Pope seemed to do better batting at No. 6.
When Pope played at No. 3 against Zimbabwe last month, Bethell was unavailable due to the IPL, and Pope scored 171 runs, proving he deserved to stay in the team. Rob Key, England's director of cricket, mentioned on Tuesday that England had "two brilliant options" for one position, and they decided to stick with Pope.
On Wednesday, England announced their team for the first Test, with Brydon Carse and Chris Woakes returning to open the bowling after missing last month's match against Zimbabwe due to injuries. Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir kept their spots, while Gus Atkinson is still recovering from a hamstring issue, and captain Stokes will lead the attack.
This will be Carse's first home Test. He took 27 wickets in five Tests in Pakistan and New Zealand this winter. He expressed excitement about playing at Headingley, saying, "It's an amazing ground. I've played some white-ball cricket here recently, but playing a home Test against India is going to be thrilling."
Carse has mostly been a change bowler in his first-class career, but he is expected to take the new ball alongside Woakes in this match. He mentioned, "We've talked a bit about that. I'm looking forward to the chance if that's the plan. I opened the bowling in the one-day series against the West Indies and felt comfortable doing it."
Compared to India’s recent opponents, England’s bowling attack has less experience. Mark Wood is out due to a knee injury, and Rishabh Pant noted it was "definitely" a plus not to face the retired James Anderson and Stuart Broad, saying, "It feels great. But… they still have a strong bowling lineup."
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.