England have announced a 14-member squad for the opening Test of the series against India, which begins June 20 at Headingley. Ben Stokes will lead the side, with Jamie Overton making a return to the Test team after nearly three years. Overton has played only one Test so far, with his sole appearance coming against New Zealand in 2022. Gus Atkinson was unavailable for selection due to a right hamstring injury sustained during the recent Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge
Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Overton, and Josh Tongue feature in the pace attack, with Shoaib Bashir included as the sole spinning option. Jacob Bethell also returns to the Test team after missing the one-off match against Zimbabwe last month.
The 14-member squad included the top-3 of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, and Ollie Pope, who smashed brilliant centuries against Zimbabwe. Jamie Smith is expected to keep the wickets, retaining the role he played in the Zimbabwe Test.
England squad:
Ben Stokes (Durham) – Captain, Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Sam Cook (Essex), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire), and Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
The BCCI, meanwhile, had earlier announced an 18-member squad for the England Test tour, which featured a new Indian Test captain in Shubman Gill. With both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retiring from the format, the tour will mark the beginning of India’s generational transition; this will also be India’s first Test series without Ravichandran Ashwin, who had earlier called time on his international career during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Karun Nair made a return to the Indian Test squad after over eight years, and produced a brilliant performance during his outing for India A against England Lions last week. Nair hit a double century in the game, while Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Nitish Kumar Reddy – all part of the squad – smashed half-centuries in the second innings.
Gautam Gambhir, the Indian head coach, and Gill will address the media in a pre-departure press conference on Wednesday.
