England on Thursday announced their playing XI for the rescheduled fifth Test against India at Edgbaston which starts on Friday, July 1. The team, led by Ben Stokes has made one change to their most recent outing against New Zealand, with James Anderson coming in to replace Jamie Overton.
Anderson, who recently completed a haul of 650 wickets in Test cricket history, is the third-highest wicket-taker in the format, and the most successful pacer in red-ball cricket history.
The veteran speedster had missed England's third Test match against New Zealand with an ankle issue, as the Three Lions completed yet another clean sweep over the Kiwis. However, Anderson has recovered just in time, ahead of the all-important match as India currently lead the Test series 2-1.
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Anderson's duel with India stalwart Virat Kohli will be an interesting sub-plot of the match.
With Ben Foakes recovering from COVID-19, Kent's Sam Billings was retained as the wicketkeeper for the match beginning on Friday.
India are 2-1 up in the series which could not be completed last year because of COVID-19 cases in the India camp before the final match at Old Trafford.
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Here's how England will line up against India:
England XI: Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (captain), Sam Billings (wicketkeeper), Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson.
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Jasprit Bumrah to captain India
After Rohit Sharma was infected with Covid-19, Jasprit Bumrah is slated to lead India against England.
Bumrah is set to become the sixth different player to lead the Men in Blue across formats in 2022. He will also become the first fast bowler in 35 years to lead the Indian Test team.
The last pacer captain that India had was the great Kapil Dev, who was removed from captaincy in 1987. Since then India has never had a speed merchant leading the team in traditional cricket.
With inputs from PTI
