Jos Buttler set for a break, to return for T20 matches in India
England name squad for the shortest format which begins in Ahmedabad on March 12
Kolkata: Jos Buttler, the star England wicketkeeper-batsman, will get a break from the bio-bubble for now but he will have to be back for the five Twenty20 internationals in India after the Test series as the squad was announced on Thursday by the country’s cricket board.
Buttler ended his Test tour after England won the opening match of the four-Test series in Chennai on Tuesday as part of the team’s rest-and-rotate policy amid the coronavirus pandemic and will get a break for the next three Tests. Joe Root’s England will begin the second Test in Chennai starting Saturday and finish off with the final match in Ahmedabad, which is set to begin on March 4.
It will be a welcome break for Buttler as he would be in for an extended stay in India on his return with the Indian Premier League (IPL) scheduled to start here tentatively on April 11. Buttler, alongwith England teammates Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, have been retained by Rajasthan Royals.
The touring side, led by England’s white-ball captain Eoin Morgan, will play five T20 matches in Ahmedabad, starting March 12. Root, who last played a T20 in May 2019, has been kept out of the 16-member squad which includes spinner Adil Rashid and left-arm quick Reece Topley.
England will play three One-day Internationals March 23, 26 and 28 to finish the tour. The ODI squad will be announced at a later date.
T20 Squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.
Reserves: Jake Ball, Matt Parkinson.