Now Reading: Root to captain England against Pakistan as Cox and Lawrence return
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Root to captain England against Pakistan as Cox and Lawrence return
England have named a 16-man squad for the first two Tests against Pakistan, with Joe Root returning as permanent captain. The three-Test series begins at Headingley on August 19, followed by the…
The Story in Brief
England have named a 16-man squad for the first two Tests against Pakistan, with Joe Root returning as permanent captain. The three-Test series begins at Headingley on August 19, followed by the second match at Lord’s from August 27.
Jordan Cox will replace the injured Jacob Bethell at No. 3. Dan Lawrence returns after his first-class season with Surrey, while Ollie Pope and Brydon Carse are back after missing England’s previous Test campaign. England’s pace options include Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and Ollie Robinson. Rehan Ahmed has been left out. The squad also includes Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith and Shoaib Bashir.
The Indian Opinion
The easy storyline is that Root’s return alone will restore England’s Test fortunes, while another is that Bethell’s absence makes the batting fragile. Neither claim has been tested. Cox has played only a small number of Tests, and Lawrence’s recall rests on county form rather than recent international output. The useful measure will be England’s top three after the first two matches, especially Cox’s runs and Root’s captaincy record.
Sources (2): rediff.com, timesnownews.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
