Senior England pacer James Anderson, with his 183 Test caps and 690 wickets, will be on the bench in the first Test against India, starting Thursday in Hyderabad. England announced their playing XI on Wednesday, which included only one fast bowler, Mark Wood, and three spinners, with Tom Hartley set to make his Test debut.
Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum are expecting a raging turner; hence, they have gone with three spinners—Jack Leach, Rehan Ahmed, and Hartley—along with Joe Root, who is more than just a handy part-time off-spinner, and only one pacer—Mark Wood.
Leach and Ollie Pope are returning from injuries. The withdrawal of Harry Brook made it a straightforward decision for England to fit both Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow in the line-up, with Foakes taking the gloves.
A talking point is England going with Wood over James Anderson, who has 34 wickets in 13 Tests in India and averages 24 against the Asian giants in Test cricket.
Why have England dropped James Anderson from the first Test against India?
Ben Stokes said Mark Wood’s express pace and ability to reverse swing the ball at high speeds made him undroppable. So when England decided to go with only one pacer, it was Wood who pipped over 41-year-old James Anderson.
On Tuesday, Ben Stokes had said, “If we do choose to go with just the one seamer, you can’t deny what Woody possesses as a package His express pace and he can get the ball reverse swinging as well … the skill that he has is obviously something that you want in your team. We’ve got out-and-out pace with Gus and Woody, then we’ve got the unbelievable skillset that Jimmy and Robbo possess.”
They dropped Anderson??????
Here people bring up Anderson’s credentials as a Test pacer in Asia to fight with anyone who puts him down, and England goes, nah, let’s sit him out.
Terrible call imo. Should’ve played both Anderson and Wood. https://t.co/fE7Kb3oa2i
— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) January 24, 2024
Tom Hartley, the lanky left-arm spinner from Lancashire, will make his debut, while leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed will feature in only his second Test match. Stokes said England are picking their best spinners, adding that experience can be overrated sometimes.
“I just think we have picked the spinners who we best feel are going to give us the best opportunity to win out here, regardless of experience. Sometimes experience can be a little over-rated and over-thought,” the England skipper said.
England’s playing XI for the first Test vs India:
1. Zak Crawley
2. Ben Duckett
3. Ollie Pope
4. Joe Root
5. Jonny Bairstow
6. Ben Stokes (C)
7. Ben Foakes (wk)
8. Rehan Ahmed
9. Tom Hartley
10. Mark Wood
11. Jack Leach
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