England have named their squad to play India at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton, in the penultimate Test of the series.
Hampshire captain James Vince has been given the call by national selector Ed Smith to pad up on his home ground, having been dropped at the end of England’s winter tour when he averaged 30.55 with the bat.
Vince, who has been capped 13 times in Tests, has been in fine form for his county in the County Championship. Scores of 74 and 147 made against Nottinghamshire last week came at the Ageas Bowl and that has proved enough for Ed Smith to pencil him in for the No.4 batting spot, as a finger injury to Jonny Bairstow looks set to rule him out.
“The selection panel felt this was the right time to reintroduce James Vince to the Test squad. James will provide cover in case Jonny Bairstow’s fractured finger prevents him playing in the fourth Test match.
“James returns to the England set-up in confident form and scoring runs. He has been in excellent form for Hampshire in the Specsavers County Championship, with 847 runs at 56.46, including 74 and 147 this week – runs that shaped Hampshire’s win against Nottinghamshire.
Also in the runs last week and a player who is no stranger to the England fold was Moeen Ali. The Worcestershire all-rounder could push Vince for a place in England’s final XI after scoring 219 for his county batting at no.3 against Yorkshire.
The off-spinner is included in the squad with Adil Rashid, and became one of the main talking points from last week’s round of County Championship matches by putting on a partnership worth 294 with Daryl Mitchell at Scarborough.
Ed Smith explained the reasons behind dropping Jamie Porter from the squad, with the Essex seamer left to await his Test debut.
“Jamie Porter has been part of the last three Test squads. But the selection panel did not want him to miss the opportunity of playing for Essex in the next round of championship matches. He will return to the squad in the event of an injury to a seam bowler.”
Joe Root’s side are defending a 2-1 lead coming off the back of a 203-run defeat to the tourists at Trent Bridge.
England squad to play India in the fourth Test at Southampton:
Joe Root (Yorkshire, capt)
Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)
Jimmy Anderson (Lancashire)
Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Jos Buttler (Lancashire)
Alastair Cook (Essex)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Keaton Jennings (Lancashire)
Ollie Pope (Surrey)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
Ben Stokes (Durham)
James Vince (Hampshire)
Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
