The England cricket team announced its playing XI for the first Test against India in Hyderabad starting January 25.
The team management has decided to play just one fast bowler in Mark Wood who will have four spinners for company in the series-opener at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Tom Hartley handed debut, Ben Foakes back
Left-arm spinner Tom Hartley will make his debut and share the spin attack with Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed. Former captain Joe Root will also join the bowling with his off-spin whenever called upon by Ben Stokes.
Ben Foakes will keep wickets while Jonny Bairstow will play as a specialist batter at No.5 as Harry Brook has pulled out of the tour due to personal reasons.
"Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed and Jack Leach all come into the side having not been involved in our last Test against Australia at The Oval last summer," the ECB stated.
Shoaib Bashir returns home
England had another spinner in Shoaib Bashir in their squad but the Pakistan-origin 20-year-old couldn't leave Abu Dhabi as he still hasn't got his Indian visa. Bashir has flown back home to the UK to sort out the matter, leaving skipper Stokes "devastated and frustrated" before the first Test.
Mark Wood lone pacer in England XI
Talking about playing just one quick bowler in Wood, the skipper sounded optimistic about the 34-year-old's ability to rattle the opposition batters with his extreme pace.
"When you go with one seamer, you look at the impact you want out of that seamer. What Woody brings with his high pace, he is a real impact bowler. If we can get the ball swinging, him bowling in the 90s-mph with a reverse-swinging ball will be very difficult to play against.
"He's a weapon we can use in short, sharp spells. We've already said that to him. Bowl as fast as you can in short periods. There's no worries about thinking about long spells. You never know, things might change and he might have to bowl a few long spells. That's how I envision using Woody before we've bowled a ball," Stokes said at the pre-match press conference.
England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Mark Wood, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach.
