Thursday 16 March 2017 12:42, UK
Spinner Zafar Ansari will make his England debut in the second and final Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Friday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 4.30am.
The 24-year-old Surrey slow left-armer, comes in for off-spinner Gareth Batty, who starred with four wickets in England's thrilling 22-run win in the opening Test.
Seamer Stuart Broad has been rested, despite being in line for his 100th Test at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Steven Finn will replace him.
"Zafar's going to make his debut coming in for Gareth and Finny's coming in for Broady," captain Alastair Cook said at his pre-match press conference.
Ansari was unlucky to miss out on his England debut in 2015 after dislocating his left thumb, only to injure his thumb again in May this year.
The serious nature of the fracture meant he was ruled out for the entirety of the winter and although it also troubled him at the start of the season, he took 22 wickets in 10 Specsavers County Championship Division One matches at an average of 31.40.
On the debutant, Cook said: "Clearly he has the ability to take the ball away from the right-handers. One thing I've seen in the nets is he can bowl at good pace with good control. It will be interesting to see how he goes. He can also bat as well, which is good."
The tourists are also preparing for a five-Test series in India after their Bangladesh challenge, with the skipper reiterating the need to rotate the squad this winter to cope with the heavy workload.
There was also more hopeful news on the state of paceman James Anderson, who was not included in England's initial 16-man squad for the Indian series which gets going on November 9.
Anderson has been struggling with a shoulder problem and has been bowling indoors at Loughborough. The management want to keep across his progress over the next week before deciding if he joins the squad overseas or spends time with the Lions in Dubai.
Sky sources understand he is quietly confident he will be fit to take part in the series, perhaps in time for the third Test which gets going on November 26 in Mohali.
Cook added: "In an ideal way, we'd have liked Jake Ball to have got a game. We feel Chris Woakes hasn't played loads of cricket on the sub-continent and so he will benefit from more experience.
"We sat down at the start of the tour and discussed all of this. It never works out how it's planned. Despite these changes, it doesn't stop our intensity to win this game.
"I'm sure Stuart [Broad] would have liked to have made his milestone in this Test, but it's a case of looking to the future and he understands that. We don't want to go to India with too many players not having played cricket."
England XI for second Test: Alastair Cook (capt), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Gary Ballance, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Zafar Ansari, Steven Finn.
Watch the Second Test between Bangladesh and England from Friday, live on Sky Sports 2HD from 4.30am.
