Rashid has returned to the England squad for the first time since he played in the fifth Test against India at Chennai in December 2016
England named Yorkshire spinner Adil Rashid in the squad for the first Test of the series against India starting from 1-5 August. This Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham would be England’s 1,000th match in the five-day format.
Rashid has returned to the England squad for the first time since he played in the fifth Test against India at Chennai in December 2016. The leg-spinner has been in fine form in ODIs this summer, taking 20 wickets at an average of 23.95 in England’s series victories over Australia and India.
If selected, Rashid, who signed a white-ball-only deal with Yorkshire in February, will play his first Test in England, having earned his previous 10 games away from home. Before the selection meeting, Rashid had confirmed his availability to play Test cricket for England for the whole of this summer and the upcoming winter tours to Sri Lanka and West Indies.
Rashid fully understands that if he wishes to be eligible for Test cricket in the 2019 season, he must have a county contract to play four-day cricket. Moving forward, England Test players must be committed to the county championship.
Another spin-bowling all-rounder from Worcestershire, Moeen Ali, has also been included in the squad for the first time since the tour of New Zealand.
The selection panel also confirmed that Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes requires more time to regain his form after recovering from his recent thigh and knee injuries. It felt that Woakes needed a little more time to regain full fitness. The selectors said they were keen to avoid rushing Woakes back from injury. They said that Woakes will combine playing for Warwickshire in T20s alongside building up red-ball fitness and workload with the England coaches.
Ali took his strong ODI bowling form for England into the county championship, in which he picked up eight wickets, in a fine display against Somerset this week. Moeen has been recalled into the squad having missed out on selection against Pakistan. Moeen troubled the Indians when they toured England in 2014.
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