England pick Pope over Bethell; Woakes returns

Experienced pace bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes returned to the England line-up while Ollie Pope was preferred over Jacob Bethell as the hosts on Wednesday named their playing XI for the opening Test against India on Friday.

Woakes, who missed the previous two Tests due to an ankle injury, replaces Sam Cook, while Brydon Carse comes in for Gus Atkinson, who is sidelined with a hamstring issue.

Woakes’ inclusion at No. 8 adds valuable all-round strength, allowing England to field Jamie Smith as a specialist wicketkeeper-batter at No. 7 while maintaining a deep batting line-up.

The hosts also named vice-captain Ollie Pope at number three, opting for experience over youth as 21-year-old Bethell was sidelined.

Pope, who made 171 against Zimbabwe in his most recent outing, keeps his place despite a modest average of 22.05 from 18 combined Tests against India and Australia — a figure well below his career average of 35.49.

England’s XI
Z Crawley, B Duckett, O Pope, J Root, H Brook, B Stokes (c), C Woakes, J Smith (wk), B Carse, J Tongue, S Bashir

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