England vs India 2018: England Name their Playing XI for Third Test Match

England has named their playing XI for the third Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham against India. Joe Root confirms that the hosts will welcome back Ben Stokes in the final XI. Stokes was expected to make the cut after he was cleared in the affray charge case.

However, Stokes was expected to replace Adil Rashid who didn’t have a major role to play in the second Test match. Surprisingly, England has decided to go with Ben Stokes in place of Sam Curran who was the hero in the first Test match at Edgbaston.

Curran had scored 87 runs and scalped five wickets in the opening Test. Thus, his exclusion from the final XI is a tad unfair for the 20-year old Surrey lad.

Thus, England captain Joe Root was to face a good selection headache for the third Test commencing tomorrow. Meanwhile, Root admitted the fact it was one of the hardest selections decision he had to make as a English skipper.

Root said as quoted by ecb.co.uk, “It was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make as captain. It’s about us as a squad delivering over five games and on this occasion, Sam is unfortunate to miss out.

“Ben is desperate to get back playing cricket. He’s desperate to get out there, put in performances and concentrate on his cricket now. He feels ready to play.”

Here is England’s playing XI for the third Test match at Trent Bridge.

Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (c), Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.