England announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming fourth Test match against India as all-rounder Chris Woakes returns for the first time after fully recovering from a heel injury. Woakes last played a Test match for England in August 2020 and had to sit out from then either because of their rotation and rest policy or due to his injury. Either way, it is great to have him back for the home team with the 5-match series against India at home level 1-1 and 2 more matches to go!
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| England all-rounder Chris Woakes (Image Credits: ESPN Cricinfo) |
England currently are fielding Sam Curran and Moeen Ali as all-rounders and it would be a great opportunity to bring another all-rounder into the fold. According to ECB, Woakes bowled well in last week's Vitality Blast Quarter-Final for Warwickshire and had shown no signs of pain with his injury. This implies he would be directly included in the playing XI at The Oval for the 4th Test match against India!
On the other hand, Jos Buttler has been released from the squad with his wife expecting their second child. Sam Billings has been added to the squad as a reserve wicket-keeper while Jonny Bairstow would do the glovework in the 4th Test match. This implies that Bairstow would be back to wicket-keeping in Test cricket for the first time since Ashes 2019 at home.
Pacers James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton were all superb with the ball in their victory at Headingly and it would be threatening to see Woakes added to this group! These four can be their four main pacers with Moeen and Sam providing the part-time duties with the ball. Or England can replace out-of-form Sam Curran with Ollie Pope for just the 4th Test to see how things stand for them with the bat!
Mark Wood is yet to fully recover from the right shoulder injury he sustained at Lord's this series. He will continue to travel with the national squad with England medical team assessing his condition. As of now, there is no real update from ECB that Wood is match-ready for the 4th Test match against India. Meanwhile, Saqib Mahmood who was added to the Test squad following Broad's injury in the first Test match has been released to play for Lancashire in the ongoing County Championship.
The 5-match Test series is currently level 1-1 with 2 more matches to go. The first Test match at Trent Bridge was drawn courtesy of rain on Day 5 while India and England won the second and third Test matches respectively played at Lord's and Headingly. The fourth Test match would be played at The Oval beginning from Thursday (Sep 02).
England's squad for fourth Test match: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Sam Curran, Moeen Ali, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton, James Anderson, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Sam Billings, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
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