Courtesy: England Cricket
Luke Wright, the England national selector, spoke at length about the return of young all-rounder Jacob Bethell in the squad for the first Test of the five-match series against India, starting on June 20 at Headingley in Leeds. When Luke Wright was asked about whether the 21-year-old will play in the India Test later this month, he remarked “very close”, raising questions around which player he might replace in England’s starting XI, which played the one-off four-day Test against Zimbabwe last month.
It was last month when England were able to defeat Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge in Nottingham by an innings and 45 runs in a Test match lasting just three days. It is understood that if Jacob Bethell has to make the playing XI against India in the first Test, the players who could make way for him are opener Zak Crawley or number three Ollie Pope, with both of them not being as consistent as some of the other batters in the team.
Jacob Bethell scored three fifties in debut Test series vs New Zealand late last year
When wicketkeeper batter Jamie Smith was ruled out of the Test series against New Zealand last year due to personal reasons, Ollie Pope was given the gloves and moved down the order, to open up a slot for Jacob Bethell on debut. The latter ended up scoring three fifties in three Test matches, to make the number three slot in the batting order his own, but he didn’t play for England against Zimbabwe last month in the one-off Test match due to IPL commitment with RCB, which allowed Ollie Pope to take the spot and score a hundred.
Luke Wright addressed the possible playing XI for the first Test against India, as per BBC Sport, “We'll get together when we get up to Leeds and announce that two days out from the Test. We'll consider everything: conditions, what has gone before. All of those considerations go into the melting pot.” In regards to Jacob Bethell’s addition in the playing XI, he remarked, “It's a great option to have. What a talent we all see in him. It's a great issue to have, to have that depth in the squad.”
The left field option for England will be to drop frontline off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, to draft Jacob Bethell in the playing XI against India later this month in the Test series.
