London [UK], July 21 (ANI): England men's head coach Chris Silverwood on Wednesday named a 17-player squad for the opening two Tests of the five-match series against India starting at Trent Bridge on August 4.
All-rounder Ben Stokes returns to the Test squad after he missed the two-match series against New Zealand in June to enable continued management of the finger injury he sustained during the Indian Premier League. Jofra Archer (right elbow) and Chris Woakes (bruised heel) are both unavailable due to injury.
Archer continues to progress following elbow surgery but is not ready at this point to return to Test cricket. Woakes suffered a bruised heel last week and is expected to be available later in the series.
Stokes captained England to a 3-0 series win in the Royal London Series against Pakistan earlier this month and has since rested from cricket to optimise his preparation ahead of the India Tests.
"Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran also come back into the Test squad. Ollie Robinson is included after he took seven wickets on his Test debut against the Black Caps at Lord's," stated ECB in an official release.
England squad: Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Jos Buttler, Mark Wood, Sam Curran, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson. (ANI)