Chennai: England skipper Joe Root announced Friday a 12-man squad for the second Test against India. There have been four changes in the team. Among them veteran pacer James Anderson has been replaced by another veteran, Stuart Broad. The other changes are Moeen Ali in place of Dom Bess, wicket-keeper Ben Foakes in place Jos Buttler. Talking to reporters Joe Root said, the final spot will be a toss-up between cowling all-rounder Chris Woakes and rookie pacer Olly Stone.
“We are going to make four changes. Jimmy, Jofra (injured), Jos, Dom Bess are out with Foakes, Ali, Stone, Broad and Woakes coming in to the XII,” Root said in a virtual media conference on the eve of the second Test.
The touring party also received a setback after their pacer Archer was ruled out of the second Test with an elbow injury. “Of course it is a slight setback. But the good news is that it looks like he should be able to get himself fit and ready for the next game. So as long as he uses the next couple of weeks wisely, he should be fully fit ready to go,” Root informed.
Root said it wasn’t an easy decision to drop Bess. It makes Ali set to play his first Test since August 2019.
“Yeah, it wasn’t an easy decision that Dom’s contributed well and had a real impact in the first Test. With him missing out, the message for him moving forward is to keep working at that consistency of his game, deliver that skill time and time again,” Root informed.
“The contributions he made was fantastic. He is very young. He’s very much at the start of his career. It doesn’t mean that you get a big push back down the pecking order. It gives him an opportunity to take a step out of Test cricket take a stock and work on his game,” Root added.