India vs England Test: India vs England first Test will be played from June 20. Before this test, 4 England pacers have been injured.
New Delhi. England’s Chris Woakes has staked a claim to return to the Test playing XI by performing brilliantly against India A. Woakes sent Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Karun Nair to the pavilion in the India A vs England Lions match. Woakes has given proof of his form to the English selectors with this performance. Josh Tongue has also shown signs of being in form by taking two wickets. Chris Woakes and Josh Tongue are competing to be included in the playing XI for the first Test match against India.
England defeated Zimbabwe by an innings margin at Trent Bridge last month. Josh Tongue was part of the winning team. Obviously, he is a contender to be selected in the playing XI. By taking 2 wickets in the second unofficial Test against India A, Josh has kept his claim strong to remain in the English team. On the other hand, Woakes is challenging his place. Chris Woakes recently took six wickets for Warwickshire after recovering from injury.
England’s seam attack suffered a major setback on Tuesday when news of Gus Atkinson’s injury came. Atkinson will not play in the first Test against India. The first India-England Test will be played at Headingley from June 20. Mark Wood (knee injury) has already been ruled out of the series due to injury. Jofra Archer (thumb injury) will not be able to fit before the second Test. In such a situation, the face of the English pace attack is not clear.
Now the contenders to join the English pace attack for the first Test are Chris Woakes and Josh Tongue along with Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Sam Cook. Shoaib Bashir will handle the spin attack. Captain Ben Stokes will play the role of an all-rounder. Stokes had earlier said that if needed, he could play for England Lions, but he did not do so.