The England cricket team arrived at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Sunday evening, ahead of their five-match Test series against India.
The long-format series between England and India will kickstart from January 25 in Hyderabad and will conclude on March 11 in Dharamshala with the fifth and final Test.
Following the ODI World Cup 2023, this is the first Test series England will take part in. The ‘Three Lions’ played their last Test match against Australia in June 2023, where they tied the series by 2-2.
Just before the team travelled to India, England batter Dan Lawrence was roped in as a replacement for young batter Harry Brook, who has pulled out of the high-profile series due to personal reasons.
All-rounder Ben Stokes will lead a new-look England Test team in the series.
Debutants Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir were both part of the England Lions squad that trained in the United Arab Emirates last month. They were joined in the UAE by vice- captain Ollie Pope and Jack Leach to step up their preparations as they returned to Test duty following injury.
The absence of Chris Woakes, Liam Dawson and Will Jacks will hurt England. Legendary pacer James Anderson will lead the pace attack, with uncapped Gus Atkinson promoted from the limited-overs squad. The other pacers in the squad are Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson.
Meanwhile, wicketkeeper Ben Foakes was called up after being left out of the Ashes squad earlier this year. Jonny Bairstow is the team’s other wicketkeeper. Ollie Pope and Leach are also back from injury.
England Test squad for India series: Ben Stokes (C), James Anderson, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes (Wk), Dan Lawrence, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.