Adil Rashid to play for England in first Test against India at Edgbaston
Jos Buttler to be England's vice-captain for Test series against India; watch live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Wednesday
Thursday 2 August 2018 07:49, UK
Adil Rashid will play as England's sole spinner in the first Test against India at Edgbaston, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Wednesday, with Moeen Ali missing out.
Rashid will make his 11th Test appearance and first in England following his controversial recall to the side having quit first-class cricket for Yorkshire ahead of the 2018 season.
Michael Vaughan described the call-up of Rashid - who last played a red-ball match in September - as a "stab in the back for county cricket", while Geoffrey Boycott said the leg-spinner acted like a "spoilt child" by calling Vaughan's remarks "stupid".
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Rashid has taken 38 wickets in his 10 Tests to date at an average of 42.78, with 23 of those scalps coming during England's five matches in India in 2016 in a series the tourists lost 4-0.
Ali was also called up to a 13-man squad last week having been dropped for the final Test in New Zealand in March and then been left out of the drawn two-Test series against Pakistan earlier this summer.
But the off-spinner and uncapped Essex paceman Jamie Porter will not play in Birmingham, with England retaining Surrey seamer Sam Curran - who made his debut in place of the injured Ben Stokes against Pakistan at Headingley in June - in their XI for the country's 1,000th men's Test.
Speaking on Rashid, who has been recalled on the back of excellent white-ball form, England captain Joe Root said: "I was obviously in favour of the selection.
"With the amount of right-handers in what we think is going to be India's team, he gives us a very attacking option. I am very excited about that.
"He is obviously bowling with a huge amount of confidence at the minute, he seems in a good place with his game. He has matured a hell of a lot since he last played Test cricket. We feel this side gives us the best chance of winning."
On whether Rashid has been affected by criticism of his selection, Root added: "It doesn't look like it at all. He has gone about his business like he has all summer in the one-day side.
"People are entitled to their opinions and to voice what they want - I think it's slightly unfair but that's just my opinion."
England have also confirmed Jos Buttler will serve as Root's vice-captain for the five Tests against India - James Anderson has carried out the role since the start of the Ashes series in Australia after Ben Stokes was stood down following a late-night incident outside a Bristol nightclub.
"[Jos] is vice-captain of the white-ball side, thinks extremely well about the game and has a huge amount of respect within the dressing room," said Root.
"Looking long-term I see him as someone who can really drive this team forward. I think it's a great opportunity for him to start doing that now."
Stokes has been included in England's XI for Edgbaston but will miss the second Test at Lord's from August 9 as it will clash with his trial for affray.
India have not yet decided on their XI, with skipper Virat Kohli telling reporters on Tuesday: "In Test cricket what matters is the balance of the side, that is the most crucial thing, I think.
"Purely because the game is so long, you have two innings and so many different situations that go up and down. That's something we are going to discuss today, what is the best balance that we can take into [the game] and then pick the XI accordingly."
England XI: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (vice-captain), Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
India (possible): KL Rahul, Muali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav
Watch the first Test between England and India from 10am, Wednesday on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event.
