England vs India: Hosts announce squad for first two Tests; Robinson, Bairstow and Stokes return
Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes have been included in the 17-man squad for the biggest Test series of the English summer. Pacer Ollie Robinson has been recalled in the squad after he impressed on debut against New Zealand at Lord’s in June, where he picked up seven wickets.
But during the match, historic Twitter posts of a racist and sexist nature made by the 27-year-old Sussex seamer emerged and, following an investigation, he was handed an eight-match ban and fined £3,200 for breaking ECB directives.
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Five of the eight games were suspended for two years and Robinson served the others while his case was examined. He comes back into the fold as captain Joe Root heads into the five-match series, which begins at Trent Bridge. England will be without their key pacers Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes due to respective elbow and heel injuries.
Bairstow will provide wicketkeeping cover for Jos Buttler in the side. Buttler is another player to return having missed the New Zealand series following India Premier League commitments, along with all-rounder Sam Curran – and could also push for a place as a specialist batsman given the meagre efforts of England’s middle order in the 1-0 loss to the Black Caps.
Stokes played through the pain in the recent ODI series win over Pakistan, returning ahead of schedule from a broken finger to captain a scratch team after a COVID-19 forced all of the initially selected squad into isolation.
