The England national cricket team has named their squad for the upcoming 3-match T20I series against Pakistan. Many of the regulars including skipper Eoin Morgan, the wicket-keeping duo of Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, key opener Jason Roy, all-rounder Moeen Ali, seamers David Willey, Chris Jordan, Tom Curran, and wrist-spinner Adil Rashid have been restored to the squad along with multiple new faces.
Many key red-ball players in Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, and Sam Curran have been rested for the upcoming series with the 5-match Test series against a strong Virat Kohli-led Indian team in mind.
The entirety of England’s squad against Sri Lanka was under a Covid-19 scare as three players and four support staff contracted the virus and the others were deemed to be in close contact. Every member of the squad was put under mandatory self-isolation for 7 days after the completion of the series against the Lankan side.
An entirely new squad was named within hours to play the 3 ODIs against Pakistan with all-rounder Stokes leading the squad full of uncapped players at the international level.
Whilst expectations were low, James Vince, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson, Brydon Carse, Lewis Gregory, and Phil Salt exceeded those expectations and clean-swept Pakistan in the recently concluded 3-ODI series.
Gregory, Mahmood, and Parkinson have been retained in the squad for the T20I series for their excellent performances in the ODI leg whilst the rest of the players will be diverting their attention to the first season of ‘The Hundred’ starting from July 21.
Head coach Chris Silverwood will be taking a minor break handing over the coaching duties to Paul Collingwood for the upcoming 3 T20I series set to be played at Trent Bridge (July 16), Headingley (July 18), and Old Trafford (July 20).
Before handing over the head coach duties to Collingwood, Silverwood talked about the depth of English white-ball cricket and explained the selection for the upcoming T20I series.
“The Royal London Series success against Pakistan showcased the exciting depth of talent we have developed in men’s white-ball cricket. We have selected a T20 squad that sees the return of many of our most experienced players after their period of isolation. Additionally, we have rewarded some of the players involved in the 50-over series win with the selection which allows us to manage multi-format players as we prepare for the much-anticipated Test series against India.
He also said,
“I would like to express my thanks to Ben Stokes and the players for their efforts over the last week, and the counties for their support in getting this series on.”
England Squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey,
After winning the recently concluded 3-match ODI series by a flattering margin of 3-0, the Morgan-led squad would be aiming to repeat the scoreline in the shortest format of limited-overs international cricket as of now.
