London: In-form leg-spinner Adil Rashid was Thursday recalled to the 13-man England squad for the opening Test against India despite his stated intent of concentrating on white ball cricket this February.
Essex seamer Jamie Porter also earned his maiden call-up for his consistent performances for the county and England Lions (A) over the past few seasons. He played a key role in Essex’s County triumph in 2017 and was awarded with the Player of the Year trophy.
However Rashid’s much publicised return, having last played a Test match in December 2016 against India (at Chennai), happened due to his recent exploits in ODIs where he got 20 wickets against Australia and India at an average of 23.95.
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 away from home.
“Clearly, the one-off circumstances around Adil’s return to the Test squad are unusual. However, the selection panel was unanimous in believing that Adil should be selected in England’s squad,” national selector Ed Smith said in a press release.
“Adil Rashid also returns to the England Test squad. Before the selection meeting, Adil had confirmed his availability to play Test cricket for England for whole of this summer and the upcoming winter tours to Sri Lanka and West Indies.
“However, Adil 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,” Smith added.
Worcestershire’s Moeen Ali also returned to the squad for the first time since the tour of New Zealand. However Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes has not been picked as he is yet to recover from his recent thigh and knee injury.