England to retain 16-man ODI squad for the upcoming series against Pakistan

England has announced a 16-players squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Pakistan, ready to start from July 8 in Cardiff. 

In the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, England are already 2-0 in the 50 over fixtures, with a final to take place on Sunday at Bristol. 

Tom Banton was called later on for the series after Dawid Malan withdrew for family reasons and he remains at the same place for a 16 players squad against Pakistan.

After England’s eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second ODI at Oval on Thursday, Graham Thorpe believes that any changes in the squad are unnecessary and England seak to test their bench strength ahead of the Pakistan series.

He also admitted that the series against Pakistan will be tough as compared to what Sri Lanka offered in the three-match T20I and ODI series.

“Potentially the Pakistan series could push us further,”

Thorpe said.

“We’ve been pleased with our performances. We didn’t want any complacency to creep in. And because of the competition we have, the players want to put in good performances.”

“Sri Lanka has a decent group of players, there’s no doubt about that. I think they’ve been weakened more on their batting side than their bowling unit but I believe Pakistan will be a team that’s further ahead in terms of experience and how they’ll be able to challenge. It’ll probably be a tougher contest.”

One player who has a good chance to be part of the playing XI in the final match against Sri Lanka is the Sussex left-arm pacer, George Garton. If given the chance, he would make his debut for England before he was drafted as a replacement into the Test squad of England in 2017-18 Ashes.

Liam Dawson is another player who is yet to test his metal, and he could appear for England since 2018 when he was selected as a non-playing reserve player in the 2019 World Cup.

England will announce their T20 squad later this month, a series that proves beneficial for both teams ahead of the T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman later this year.

“I think it will be a very good series,”

Moeen Ali said.

“Pakistan is normally a very good side, they give us good games, and I think they’ll be a stronger opposition than Sri Lanka, which means you get more of a chance to bat and bowl as a player who’s down the order, for example, and hasn’t been bowling much.

“They are one of the best [T20I] teams in the world, along with West Indies, India, Australia,’ he said. “I think Pakistan are our bogey-team in World Cups, they always seem to do well against us, so we can’t take them lightly at all, they are a fantastic team with quality players.”

England vs Pakistan

ODI Series

T20 Series