After the dominating performance at Edgbaston and Lords, England came up with the strong playing XI for Trent Bridge Test against India as well. Their prime all-rounder Ben Stokes make a cut into the side for Sam Curran.
Surprisingly, the man of the match in Edgbaston Test, Sam Curran is unfortunate to miss out the game. Thankfully, England stuck with the youngster Ollie Pope who showed promising character in his little innings.
It was one of the most difficult decisions for me – Joe Root
Arguably, England team management coupled with Joe Root would have faced hard times in picking their playing XI. With all the players performing well for the team, taking a call on a certain player needs a lot of calculations.
Speaking of the same, the England skipper, Joe Root quoted it was one of the most challenging decisions for him to chose the playing XI.
He revealed the young Sam Curran would be missing the game to make way for returning Ben Stokes.
“It was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make as captain. It’s about us as a squad delivering over five games and on this occasion, Sam is unfortunate to miss out,” Joe Root quoted.
“Ben is desperate to get back playing cricket. He’s desperate to get out there, put in performances and concentrate on his cricket now. He feels ready to play,” he added to his lines as per ECB’s release.
Ollie Pope gets one more chance:
The youngster Ollie Pope has been given one more chance, as he got only one chance to prove himself against India at Lords. He showed a great character on the field and was impressive in his brief knock before being dismissed to a Hardik Pandya’s Jaffa.
Another surprising player in the side is Adil Rashid. He hardly made his presence at Lords but the camp stuck to Rashid for the Nottingham Test. However, England’s playing XI against India looks quite solid on the paper.
Here is the playing XI:
Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (c), Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow (w), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
? BREAKING NEWS ?
We have named our team for the third Specsavers Test against India.
➡️ https://t.co/5AkicO5g8Z pic.twitter.com/ASC8AZwp8H
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 17, 2018