LONDON: England have named an unchanged squad for their tour of India with their all-time leading wicket-taker James Anderson not included in the initial 16-man list for the five-Test series, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Tuesday.
Anderson, with 463 wickets in 119 matches, is recovering from a shoulder injury and has been left out of the squad for the opening Test in Rajkot starting on Nov 9 and is doubtful for the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
A recurrence of the injury forced the 34-year-old out of the current series against Bangladesh and his availability for the remaining four Tests in India, the world’s top-ranked side, will be left to medical staff.
That means Jake Ball remains with the squad, which is unchanged from the two-Test series in Bangladesh, after he was added to the party.
England are also without paceman Mark Wood due to an ankle injury, but they elected not to draft in another seamer.
Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, Steven Finn and Jake Ball are the pace bowlers in the squad, with Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari supplying spin.
England will also play Tests in Mohali, Mumbai and Chennai.
Squad: Alastair Cook (captain), Moeen Ali, Zafar Ansari, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Ben Duckett, Steven Finn, Haseeb Hameed, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.
Published in Dawn October 27th, 2016
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